


Long, Live, Love

by Kayemen22



Series: Home, Heart, Hero [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-11-07 21:44:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 280,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20824283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayemen22/pseuds/Kayemen22
Summary: Starling is still reeling from the destruction brought on by Malcolm Merlyn. This city needs a hero and Oliver Queen decides he's ready to be that hero,but behind every great hero is a woman with a weird nickname who he's been in love with for practically his entire life.When it seems things are going right, dark secrets of the past seem to threaten to tear them apart. Oliver/OC





	1. Long Distance Heartache

**CHAPTER 1**

**LONG DISTANCE HEARTACHE**

"_We loved with a love that was more than love."_

_-Edgar Allen Poe_

* * *

There's this old saying, "_Wisdom is to live in the present, plan for the future and profit from the past_" Katie liked to think of herself as a wise person and for some reason this saying rang so true in her life all of a sudden. A year ago Katie stood in a hotel room and listened to a story that shook her entire word.

_"Say something Robins." Bruce said to Katie who stood staring out the window after Waller told her this impossible story of her father the ARGUS agent who orchestrated her kidnapping in an effort to prepare her for a fight he believed that she could take on in his absence. It's strange how in the span of a couple of minutes, hundreds of questions Katie carried with her since that night a group of extremists broke into a small hospital and took her with them, were just answered. A part of her didn't want to believe it. A part of her couldn't imagine her father, the kindhearted man who bled business, would carry such a secret as this._

_"Katie I think it's time we discussed the next step." Waller said walking to Katie's side. _

_"I think you should give her a minute." Bruce said, his voice full of warning. "You just threw an atomic bomb on her life, she needs to process this." _

_"I love how you assume time is something we have the luxury of wasting" Amanda bit back to the man before turning to Katie. "Jacob's place here in Starling was crucial to this operation. We've set up agents all over the world whose mission is to pass along information to us so we can possibly stop astronomical things from happening." _

_"And the Undertaking?" Katie asked not even bothering to turn to the woman. _

_"Your father was still gathering information, we didn't know what this Undertaking really was. If we did, we would've helped stop it." _

_"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Katie muttered with a shake of her head. _

_"At this point what you believe truly doesn't matter. These are the facts and now we must discuss what comes next." _

_"No." Katie said with a nod to herself. She finally turned to the woman who stared in obvious annoyance. "No." she turned and walked over to her suit case, grabbing the handle before turning to Waller and Bruce. "Four years ago my life went to shit and right now you're telling me that the person who loved me the most is the reason. You're telling me that he concocted this plan to prepare me for a fight that he thought me and Oliver could take on for this city." _

_"Robins-" _

_"You do not speak now!" Katie growled angrily with a look so dark that it caused a chill down his spine. "You lied to me, you kept things from me and I do not trust you anymore. I want you to leave Starling, get on your plane, forget what ever noble reason you had to create for yourself for why you're here and take your ass home." Katie's eyes turned to Waller and the darkened look in her eyes seemed to get even darker. " I do not see you again in my city unless I call for you, do you understand?" The woman opened her mouth to speak, but Katie wasn't going to let her. "You are a self serving bitch whose sole purpose is self preservation and I doubt my father even cared for you. There is more to this story, something you're not telling me and I will figure it out, but until I do, you need to make your presence in this city very seldom." Katie cast a final glance to Bruce before turning and stalking out of that room. _

Katie made a decision that day she walked out of that hotel room. She decided that her life wasn't something she was going to allow to be orchestrated or maneuvered without her input. And so a year later, she laid in a very uncomfortable hospital bed, staring up to the pale white ceiling that looked utterly depressing in the moon light that filtered through the window.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and-" the voice stopped when Katie sat up, her eyes clearly open. "Oh, you're up. I thought you'd be dead to the world at this point. Especially after the night you've had."

"Oh, Becks, I probably should, but something about trying to stop of man from bleeding after knife fight in a bar doesn't really make me want to count sheep." Katie said sitting up from the bed.

"Well maybe you'll be telling a different story once you get home. Samson's here and your shift is finally over." Rebecca replied to which Katie let out a dramatic sigh of relief as she stepped from the bed. "You here tomorrow?"

"Absolutely not." Katie said heading out the door as the women walked down the now calmed halls of the hospital. "I am off for the next three days since I picked up that shift for Barnes last week. It's going to be my own little mini vacation."

"Well aren't you lucky?" Rebecca replied giving Katie a nudge. "Well enjoy it while you can, because this place will be waiting for you when you get back."

"Don't I know it." Katie sighed before pushing her way inside the locker room. After changing out of her scrubs, Katie pulled on her hoodie and tossed her bag over her shoulder before heading for the door. She thought a clean getaway was possible, until a familiar face appeared beside her. "I've had to endure your presence for an entire night, could you just quit while you're ahead Ethan."

"Aw, but Kit Kat, I quite enjoy our nights together." the man said bringing an arm around her shoulder. "Life here at Glades Memorial Hospital was dull and dreary and then the gods smiled down on me and they finally hired a hot doctor who's actually good at what she does. Shoot me for being excited."

"Alright, I will." Katie said as they passed through the sliding doors. "Shoot you that is." she pushed his arm from around her, tossing up her hood as she began walking away.

"Let me give you a ride!" he called after her, and Katie simply turned walking backwards.

"No thanks, I like to walk!" she called back to him before turning back around.

"I have absolutely no idea why you just won't buy a car. You're loaded!"

"Thanks for screaming that Ethan!" Katie called over her shoulder with a shake of her head. In all reality Katie wasn't really going to far. She was sure this time of night Felicity and John would still be at the foundry and so she decided to check in.

She was standing at an intersection about to cross the street when a blood curdling scream met her ears. It was really late, but there were still a few people around, but no one that she could see who was in distress. The signal changed telling her that she could finally cross the street and for the briefest of moments Katie thought she would, and yet when she heard the scream once more, instincts she wished she didn't have kicked in. She turned on her heel and ran in search of the source of scream. It was the third scream, where Katie finally pinpointed where it was coming from.

"Creepy dark alley, of course." Katie said taking a deep breath before walking toward the apparent danger. She almost wanted to laugh at the cliche scene before her. A woman fighting against an attacker in a dark alley. She would laugh if this scene wasn't now an everyday occurrence in the battered streets of the Glades. "Let her go!" the man stopped his attacked and turned to Katie, a smile coming to his lips at the woman. "Haven't you ever heard the saying, no means no you bastard?" the man let the woman go, and turned his full attention to Katie.

"No, but I have heard the one about a little girl trying to beat the big bad wolf. Let me tell you it doesn't end well for the girl." The man ran to tackle Katie who easily dodged him, letting him barrel into the cold concrete instead. "You know what's funny, is that you assume you're the wolf in this scenario." Katie looked over to the woman who stood shaking, holding her purse against her chest. "Get out of here and if you insist on walking down these streets, get some self defense training, or a gun." the man tried to get up, but Katie simply gave him a hard kick to the gut before looking back over to the woman who seemed scared still. "Seriously, go!" that seemed to snap some sense into the woman, who just took off running. Katie looked down to the perp, who laid face down on the ground. "Now what shall we do with you?"

"Bite me bitch!" he growled and Katie couldn't help but chuckle.

"I would, but just being around you now is making my skin crawl." Katie said looking around for an idea. That's when she spotted some rope, loosely tied to a nearby fence. "Well that could work."

Soon Katie found herself back in route toward the foundry, after stopping by a nearby payphone to give the police the heads up on a guy she was sure is a wanted man. When she arrived at the foundry, she chose to take the basement entrance, seeing the lights of the club on and bright.

Thea needed a distraction from her life and the things that were happening with her mother, and Verdant was that distraction. When Katie walked inside, she found Felicity and John standing in front of one of Felicity's computers. Katie couldn't help but let her eyes wander over the new tricked out arrow cave as they were calling it. Her eyes went to the display case that held the green hood of a man who abandoned his city and a sigh escaped her lips.

"Oh!" Felicity said looking up finally noticing the new face. "Hi, we didn't even hear you come in." she looked over to Katie who looked a little worn. "Long night?"

"If you consider a twelve hour shift followed by kicking a mugger's ass a long night, well then yes, I did I have a long night" Katie said dropping her bag to the floor and stretching out her tired muscles.

"You know I think I remember us having a discussion about you out there-"

"I'm not a vigilante." Katie said stopping the man's lecture before it can even start. "I'm not looking to put on a mask and fight crime, but in the case that I'm walking down the street and I hear someone screaming for their life because some prick decided they wanted a little extra cash, then I get involved."

"Sweetie, that's kind of a vigilante." Felicity said and Katie turned a glare toward her. "Normal people call the police to handle things like that. I mean there's nothing wrong if you want to go out there, it's just you should really protect yourself, some sort of identity protection you know."

"I don't need a mask."

"You're saying that now, but one day someone's going to get wind of the doctor who fights crime in her free time and you're going to wish you had that mask." John said before looking back down to the computer.

"Alright dad, so what are you guys up to this fine crime filled night?" Katie asked and they both looked over to her with very serious looks. " Did my puppy die? Do I have a puppy?" she turned away slightly in thought. "Did you guys get me a puppy and then he died?" she turned back to them and not even a crack of a smile. "I don't care, even with my lack of sleep and caffeine, that was pretty damn funny."

"We found him." Felicity said finally and Katie turned to her. "Oliver, John used some of his old contacts to track some of his purchases and-" Felicity noticed the blank stare that the woman now wore and so she just stopped. "We found him."

"And we're going to get him and bring him home." John said and Katie turned her eyes to him. "I was going to call you, but now that you're here-" Katie still had yet to speak, which made them both nervous. "What are you thinking?" Katie's mind flashed to the moment she heard words she'd been desperate to hear pass through the lips of the man she'd tried her best to forget. "Katie?"

"Good luck." Katie said bending down to pick up her bag and pulling it back on her shoulder.

"We could use your help." Felicity spoke as Katie turned about to leave. "He thinks he's failed and we need to convince him that this city still needs him and we think that no one could do that better than you." Katie turned, her eyes going to the display.

"Look we've assumed that things ended badly  
with you two, but this city it needs Oliver and-"

"You ever hear the saying, _"__Wisdom is to live in the present, plan for the future and profit from the past." _Katie asked and both stared waiting for her to continue. "Oliver burned me twice and I would be a fool to let him do it again."

"This might sound kind of heartless and I'm sorry, but this is no longer just about you and Oliver, this is about the city and-"

"Are you still a part of this team?" John asked finally and Katie turned to him. "I think that's what it all boils down to right. We are a team of people who protect this city and when one of us strays we do what we can to bring them back." Katie dropped her head letting out a deep breath. Since Oliver's departure her closest friends have been the two people in front of her. They were there even when she didn't want them to and now they're asking her to do the one thing she really doesn't want to do.

"He broke my heart." Katie whispered bringing her eyes back to them. "So you need my help finding bad guys or you need me to stitch you up, then I will be there with bells on. But you ask me to go with you to god knows where and look the man in the eye who reached inside my chest and took my heart before stomping on it, and beg him to return to a city he abandoned, then no if that's what being a part of this team is, then I can't be a part of it."

"Fine." Felicity said with a nod. "We understand, and we won't push you." she looked over to John who nodded as well. "And this isn't some you either do it or you're off the team sort of thing." she looked back to Katie. "John and I can do this, and hell maybe someone staying back could be a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, if something happens it would be good to have someone know where we are." John said looking over to Katie who nodded. "According to my contacts Oliver has returned to the island where he was marooned." Katie turned away with a slight shake of her head. She knew how horrible Oliver thought that place was and for him to return, then he really did must want to punish himself. "Lian Yu." The moment the words came of John's mouth, Katie's eyes snapped back to him. "What?" Katie dropped her bag before walking over and looking down to the computer to a map that highlighted the island.

"The name of Oliver's island, is Lian Yu?" Katie asked seeing the name right there in front of her. It was a name of her own tormentor and she didn't understand the significance until now.

"Yeah, why, did he not tell you about it?" John asked.

"No," Katie replied with a shake of her head, her eye unable to turn from the screen. "He kept his secrets and I kept mine and we didn't push."

"But you know the name?" Felicity asked and Katie turned to her. "How?" Katie shook her head before walking back over to her bag.

"I don't, it just sounded familiar." Katie replied turning back to them. "Email me all of your flight information and how long you will be gone for. If you're one minute late, I'm sending the national guard to find you."

"You know that does sound a bit reassuring." Felicity said with a smile turning to John. "I mean the national guard?" she turned back to Katie with a sudden furrow brow. "Can you do that?"

"You will find out Smoaks." Katie replied giving them both a wave before turning and leaving.

When Katie arrived home, she showered and changed before ending up in the place in front of her bed. This happened quite often, where the need to sleep was obvious, but the actual sleeping part just didn't happen. Since Oliver left, her demons have come and practically become an everyday part of her life. It's just when she sleeps, it's worse. She's forced into a past that she would rather forget and for a while she had no idea how to fight it. That is until she discovered the white pills in her hand. Her eyes looked down to the pills before she placed them in her mouth and washed them down with water. After that she went to where all her nights were spent.

Katie's basement has gone through renovations itself in the past couple of week. There have been some additions, one in particular is the katana that hangs on her wall. The moment her foot touches the floor she heads over and plucks the sword from the wall, a feeling of calmness passes over her at the weight in her hand. Her eyes close as she stretches her neck from side to side, taking in a deep breath.

_The room was filled with the sharp clangs of the swords striking one another. Katie's eyes fell to Bruce, one too many times, and just like that she's falling on her back, with his sword being pointed right in her face. _

_"You need to focus Robins." Bruce said moving his sword before taking a step forward to hold out a hand to help her to her feet. _

_"I'm not sure how I can do that." Katie whispered letting him help her to her feet. "Bruce, this is crazy. I don't even know why I'm here, and now you're here and I find out that at some point we are going to have to fight to the death." Bruce didn't say anything as he reached forward to pick up Katie's sword and hold it out to her. "Aren't you a little concerned because I am. I can't kill you, I can't-" _

_"You need to stop talking." Bruce said grabbing her top and shoving her against a nearby wall. He brought his face in close, not allowing any of the wondering eyes of Ra's league to see what they were saying. "Do you trust me?" Katie stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Then trust me. I will get you out of here." Katie nodded once again before shoving the man back, and taking a step forward, swinging her sword to meet his. _

Katie found herself lying on her matted floor, her heart ramming in her chest, the sword in her hand lying at her side. Her eyes looked to the ceiling of the now dark room as quick images flashed in her head letting her know that her pills were wearing off.

She heard the sound of her doorbell and got to her feet, placing the katana back in it's place against the wall before turning and rushing up the stairs.

"Who is it?" she asks instinctively before opening the door.

"Your worst enemy." a voice sang from the other side of the door and Katie let out a long sigh before reaching forward and pulling open the door. "Why are you all sweaty and gross, it's like six o'clock in the morning."

"You know I think we've talked about you just showing up at my house Jeremy." Katie said when the man just walked in without an invitation. He pushed the garment bag in his hand into her chest before heading off to the kitchen.

"I know, but this is important!" he called back to her. Katie rolled her eyes, closing her door before heading off after him. "Stellmoor International." the man says his head in her refrigerator.

"What is that?"

"Our new worse nightmare." Jeremy said pulling out a carton of milk and grabbing a box of cereal from the top of the refrigerator. "They're this big company who takes other companies and eats them, taking all their assets with them."

"What are you talking about?"

"This company likes to buy other companies and guts them like a fish after they drain all the assets they can. "Jeremy replied grabbing a bowl. "Word on wall street is that they're in Starling and QC and RI are in their sights."

"They just can't buy my company." Katie said tossing the garment bag on the table. "I'm not selling it."

"Oh, my dear cousin, why didn't my uncle force you to take a business major." Jeremy replied walking around the counter to stand in front of her. "Look, how this works is if Stellmoor brings enough money to our investors, they can choose to sell their shares. If they own the majority of our shares then the company is theirs."

"Well then you talk to the investors, tell them not to sell. That's your job right? Why I hired you after you called me a whore-"

"Hey, I did not call you whore. I simply implied that Oliver Queen had worked his way into your-" Katie punched his shoulder. "Ow, you freakishly strong woman." he grabbed his shoulder and walked around the island to continue preparing his cereal. "It's not that simple. This is a business, and money talks. The only way to dissuade our investors from selling is to give them a promise."

"What kind of promise?"

"That staying with us will keep making them rich." Jeremy said looking over to her. "Which is where you come in."

"What?" Katie said with a shake of her head. "I made you the COO so I wouldn't have to do anything. My involvement is supposed to be limited to a few waves at those meetings I have to go to."

"Fifty percent of a company's profit is based on image. Your father's image of the business man who could make you rich, kept this company booming. But now he's gone and do you want to know what image is keeping us afloat?"

"What?" Katie asked and the man pointed to her.

"You, my ridiculously annoying cousin. If I didn't need that face, I would've already concocted a coup to get you thrown out of the driver's seat." the man said before taking a bite of his cereal. "We were losing investors, stocks were going down and then you went out there and you saved the city."

"I didn't save the city, hundreds of people were killed."

"That's not the part they care about. They care about the woman who went out on the streets of a collapsing city to help person after person get to safety. You were a hero and people invest in heroes because they know consumers support heroes. So you're going to smile and wave and shake your ass if you have to and it all begins tonight."

"Ok, one, if the words 'shake your ass' ever come out of your mouth directed at me, I will break your nose and two, what's tonight?"

"The Mayor is heading up another fundraiser for the Glades today, some relief fund and I thought what better time for you to make an appearance. Shake some hands, take some pictures. You know let investors know you're doing your part to make them even more money."

"There's only one problem." Katie said turning and stalking off. "I don't want to!"

"I don't care!" Jeremy called after her. "You're doing this or all the work your father did to create this company will have been for nothing! It's one night, put on the damn dress. I will be here to pick you up at seven."

"And then I have to go with you!"

"Yes, you lucky, lucky woman." Jeremy said glancing down to his watch. "Shit, I have to go." he rushed toward the door, stopping and looking up the stairs. "Seven o'clock!"

"Whatever!" Katie called and he just shook his head before rushing out of the door.

The moment Oliver's foot step from the plane, and stepped back into Starling he was bombarded with the images of the destruction from the Undertaking.

"Hey, you alright?" Felicity asked placing a hand on his arm and he simply nodded before following them to the car. When he returned to the island, he was prepared to stay until he felt he'd truly paid for his failure, but he didn't know that his family's company was being threatened or that his sister was on her own. The one thing that truly made him realize that he needed to come back was the fact that the torture of leaving the woman he loves behind was proving to be too much for the man who believed he could endure almost any pain. But not that.

During their drive, Felicity gave him the low down on this company, Stellmoor International and it's head of acquisitions, a woman named Isabel Rochev.

"So where to?" Felicity asked from her spot beside him in the back seat. "Office? Home?" The word 'home' played in Oliver's head and a place didn't come to mind. It was a woman. It was her. She was his home and he doesn't think he can face her just yet.

"I want to check in with Thea." he decides, that reunion will be the easiest.

When Katie was all showered and dressed, she stopped by the first place she always went to start her day. She sat in a very cold room, her eyes over to the family in the corner talking with their dark gray jumpsuit wearing mother. At least that what she guesses. It's become sort of thing now when she waits where she creates these back stories for the families she observes. Soon there's a loud buzzer that tells her that someone new is coming into the room. She lifts her head to see the familiar face of Moira Queen walking toward her.

"You've come back?" the woman asks, just as she always does when she sees Katie. She takes her seat across from her, a smile tugging at her lips. "You have no idea how much this confuses me? How after learning everything, you can still show up here to visit with me."

"Malcolm manipulated you, and though I wish you would've had the courage to fight back sooner than you did, I won't fault you for being scared." Katie replied folding her hands over to table. "And since your daughter is being quite stubborn, I thought you could at least use one friendly face."

"I've become quite fond of these visits, so once again thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm sure if I ever get locked up, you'll visit me." Katie said with a laugh. "Oh, do you remember that time Oliver and I got arrested when my dad was out of town. It was that one summer and he talked me into going with him down to the quarry to light fireworks he bought."

"I do remember that, and I remember you crying because you thought it would be on your permanent record and you'd never get into a good college." Moira said unable to not laugh herself. "I had to have that officer literally explain to you that you weren't really arrested, just detained for being out past curfew."

"I didn't speak to Oliver for a whole week after that."

"I know, he moped around that entire week." Moira said as she watched the smile drop from Katie's face. "Have you spoken with him?"

"Nope." Katie said with a shake of her head. "Maybe he's having fun in Europe." Katie turned away once again to the family in the corner letting out a sigh before turning back to the woman. "Trial's coming up soon."

"It is." Moira said with a nod. "I'm not sure of my chances when my own daughter can't even forgive me."

"I will keep talking to Thea. Just stay strong. We can convince twelve jurors that if they were put in the impossible situation where they had to choose between taking orders from a crazy person or protecting their family they would've done the same thing."

"You just said _we._" Moira said leaning over to the table slightly with a smile.

"You Moira Queen are like family and I don't have much of that anymore and so I can't afford to lose the ones I do have. So yes 'we' are going to get through this. You have my full support."

"Times up!" the guard yelled over to them from his place by the door and Katie and Moira shared a smile.

"I guess that's it, huh?" Katie said reaching over to give the woman's hand a squeeze. "Take care Moira, and I will see you next week." she released the woman's hand and they both stood to their feet. It was Moira who stopped and turned back to the woman.

"Don't give up on him." Moira said. "My son has had a lot taken from him and sometimes I think he believes that if he gives it up first then it won't be as painful. Just don't give up so soon." Katie didn't say anything, but she did give a slight nod, more to just reassure the woman than anything. She wasn't sure if she could give Oliver another chance. Once Moira was gone, Katie looked down to her own watch and decided to begin preparing herself for this stupid dinner she was being forced to attend.

That night, Katie stared at herself and just shook her head at the pale blue dress her cousin had chosen for her. It wasn't too revealing, but it was tight and very uncomfortable. She combed her fingers through the curls she had pinned back. Over the course of a year, Katie has learned a few things about style and what works best for her and now as she looks at herself, minimal make up a little lip stick, she feels comfortable to leave her house.

When the doorbell finally rings, she knows that it is time to finally be tossed into the lions den. Katie hikes her leg up on the bed to check the knives she has tucked away on her thigh. They're the only thing she can really hide in this dress. Once she's comfortable that they're secure, Katie takes a deep breath before grabbing her purse and heading downstairs. When she pulls open the door, her cousin is too busy looking at his cell phone to even greet her.

"C'mon, we're going to be late." he says before turning and heading for the car.

"You're an ass!" she calls after him.

"I know, now come on!" he calls back over his shoulder.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him before this night is over, I just know it."

The ride to the fundraiser was spent in a very welcomed silence that wasn't broken until Jeremy shoved his phone in her face.

"Did you know about this?" he asked and Katie looked down to the phone to see a picture of Oliver, the headline "_Oliver Queen Returns to Starling_" underneath it. "Because if you did, this is something you should tell me."

"I didn't know he was back." Katie lied pushing his phone away. The truth is, Felicity had texted her earlier about their return, Oliver with them. She'd tried not to think about it, to put it out of her mind, because thinking of Oliver Queen was not something she was choosing to do today. Well not a lot anyway.

"Well if he's back it means QC is worried. It means we should probably be worried." Jeremy replied with a shake of his head as he looked down to his phone.

"Well lets hope me shaking my ass tonight helps." Katie muttered turning to look back out the window, trying to ignore that twinge in her stomach at the mention of Oliver's name.

Katie wished she had a gun, because if she did she would probably shoot herself right now. She stood surrounded by people who were telling her how brave she was to go in such a seedy part of the city and save those people. It was the, "those people" comments that had been in the mouths of many that night that made her have to restrain herself from hitting someone. This was definitely like those events her parents dragged her to as a child, the ones she promised herself she'd never return and yet here she was.

With some luck, she was able to slip away to a far corner away from the crowds, a glass of champagne in her hand that she'd been nursing since she snagged it from a passing tray minutes ago.

"Don't you look like you're having fun?" a voice spoke slightly startling Katie. She lifted her head, and was met with the familiar face of Laurel Lance.

"DA assistant Laurel Lance." Katie greeted raising her glass to the woman. "How have you been?"

"Busy." Laurel replied with a slight smile. "I see you have been too. How are you liking your new job?"

"Honestly I love it. It's a very good distraction from a lot of things."

"Including Oliver?" Laurel asked and Katie had to fight to not roll her eyes. Oliver Queen was definitely not a topic she wanted to touch on with the women in front of her. Since the Undertaking, they were cordial when they ran into each other, nice even, but Katie was sure Laurel was aware that Katie knew about what happened between her and Oliver. It was something Katie couldn't put out of her mind whenever she saw the woman. She assumed the woman was aware that Oliver was an untouchable subject, but she guess she was wrong. "Have you heard from him since he's been back?"

"No I haven't." Katie said bringing the glass to her lips and draining it's contents. "Well look at that, I need another." Katie walked around the woman in search of another waiter when the mayor took his place at the podium. Everyone stopped and turned their attention to him.

"Good evening." the mayor greeted.

"Hey, you should be mingling." Jeremy said appearing at Katie's side. She chose to ignore him and keep her attention to the mayor.

"It has been a very difficult year for Starling City. Our losses have been incalculable, our grief unimaginable. But with the generous donations you people are making tonight, we will come back from this tragedy."

"Mr. Mayor!" a modulated voice sounds from around them, and everyone looks up searching for the source. "You have failed this city." the glass in Katie's hands drops to the floor, as her eyes search the crowd. "The Glades descended into hell on your watch! You swore to protect all the citizens of Starling, not just the wealthy!"

"We're sorry about this folks." The mayor said trying to calm the crowd. "We'll have this sorted out in just minute." Before the mayor could even make that statement true, he was cut down in hail of gun fire that took him off his feet and caused everything in that room to erupt in chaos.

"C'mon!" Jeremy said grabbing Katie's arm, but Katie pulled away. "What are you doing?"

"Get to safety." Was all Katie said before running up the stairs just as men in hoods that covered their face came in, machine guns in their hands as they shot at the few officers who were in attendance at the event. Katie saw as one of the men appeared in front of the DA, but Laurel threw a right hook knocking the man out, but there was another that was coming right behind her. Katie quickened her step as best she could in heels and a tight dress, pushing Laurel out of the way before grabbing the man's gun hand and forcing it up to the ceiling. A few shots rang off, before Katie felt the barrel of a gun on her back. She released the gun and held up her hands in surrender.

"We are the Hoods. And what was taken from us, we will take back."

The fake vigilantes got away with hundreds of thousands of dollars in money and jewelry that night. Katie was left with a very bruised ego, that she decided to push down inside of her as she tried to help some of the people injured.

"You're a genius!" Jeremy said from his spot above Katie as she bandaged the arm of one of the officers injured. "I have a couple witnesses who all saw you save the DA and his assistant's life. Your picture's already in the news, look-" he held his phone down so she could see, but she only ignored him.

"You're going to need some stitches, but you should be fine." Katie said as the EMTs came to help the officer to his feet. Katie stood as well, pulling the latex gloves from her hands and tossing them into a nearby trash can.

"Do you know what this means?" Jeremy asked his eyes bright like a kid on Christmas morning. "You're a hero kid and the investors are going to eat this up."

"Jeremy." Katie said stopping and turning to him. "Men with guns came here, shot innocent people and stole our things. I don't care about investors right now, or the company. I care about making sure someone finds and stops these people."

"I'm sure the police have it handled." the man replied when his phone rang. "Oh, I have to take this." and with that the man went walking away. "Yeah, tell them I'll give a full interview." Katie only shook her head when she saw Detective Lance, well she guess it's officer Lance now walking over and bringing his daughter into an embrace. The man was demoted after it's revealed that he had been working with the vigilante. She can't help the hint of jealousy that strikes her in that moment as she watches the man with his daughter. Laurel has someone who cares enough to show up when she's in danger and all Katie has is an annoying money hungry cousin who still has yet to ask her if she's ok.

Katie let out a tired sigh as she ran her hand over her tired eyes. It's when she dropped her hand when she saw him. For a moment she thought she was suddenly dreaming or hallucinating, so she blinked a couple of times and each time she opened her eyes he was still there. Oliver's eyes seemed to go straight for Laurel, who noticed him as well before walking over. Katie felt her insides churn at the sight of the pair together, before they turned and walked away.

"I guess I should be thanking you." a voice said from behind her and Katie spun around to see Lance. "I heard what you did for my daughter."

"It was nothing-"

"No, it was stupid." The man said and Katie looked to him with wide eyes. "It was really stupid and you were lucky one of those guys didn't decide to put a bullet in you."

"I guess I wasn't thinking." Katie replied with a shake of her head, which was true. The situation happened and she stopped thinking and just acted.

"One day that's going to get you killed if you're not careful." Lance said placing a hand on her shoulder. "I think the world still needs someone like you doc."

"Someone like me?" Katie asked.

"Someone who cares enough to actually do something." the man said with a nod before turning and walking off. Katie stood there for a moment and wondered if that was that moment she'd been hoping for. Someone who seemed to care about her well being telling her to be careful. A small smile crept to her lips before she turned and headed for the exit. She definitely didn't plan on looking for Jeremy, so when she stepped outside she fully intended on hailing a cab.

Katie passed through the crowd of officers that congregated at the door, before stopping when she sees him again. He once again doesn't notice her before he steps inside the back seat of his car. John closes his door, but stops when he sees her. She shakes her head before turning and heading in the opposite direction.

Katie returned home that night and headed straight down her basement, the lights flickering on the moment her foot touches the floor. She turns and heads to another new addition to her sanctuary. A desk with a single computer and a wall of headlines. Each headline was about the so called vigilantes and their crime sprees around the city. She would tell John that she has no desire to be a vigilante, and yet she's drawn to figuring out who these guys are. Katie logged onto her computer to see if any new information on the vigilantes had been discovered.

"You're kidding me?" Katie muttered as she read the only headline on tonight's events. "Oliver Queen Returns." she shook her head at the news in this city. "They shot the mayor. That was meant to be a statement." she tilted her head as a sudden thought struck her. "A statement that wasn't heard because of Oliver." Katie grabbed her phone and quickly dialed a familiar number.

_"Hey, what's up?"_ Felicity answered.

"I need a favor and I don't want a lot of questions about it."

_"That worries me. Like a lot. What is it?"  
_

"I need to know what Oliver's plans are for tomorrow"

It was a hunch, one Katie couldn't prove or back up in any way or form, but she couldn't let it go. So the next morning, Katie grabbed a cab and told them to take her to Queen Consolidated. She would've been right on time to talk to Oliver before his meeting, but they ran into traffic. Katie ran inside the building, rushing for the elevator. When the doors opened on her intended floor, Katie was met with the sound of gunfire.

"Oliver!" Katie called dropping her bag and running as fast as she could toward the sound, it seemed everyone she saw was running away from.  
The moment she burst into the boardroom, she was met with the familiar hood wearing vigilantes, their guns blazing. She spotted Oliver, his back turned across the room, just as one of the vigilantes appeared behind him. Without thinking Katie climbed on top of the boardroom table, and ran across kicking the hooded man before he could hit Oliver. She thought for sure she was going to land on the floor, but Oliver's arms reached out quickly to grab her and for the quickest second, their eyes met. It was Oliver who noticed the guns that were being pointed at him. And so he wrapped an arm around Katie's waist, pulling her with him. Before she knew what was happening, they were crashing out of one window, just to burst through another.

Katie didn't move for a moment, her heart ramming in her chest as she feels the glass beneath her. A hand touches her shoulder and Katie turns to once again meet eyes she'd only daydreamed about.

"Are you alright?" he asked and for the life of her, Katie couldn't speak. She just nodded in response before turning to try an push herself to her feet. When she actually stood to her feet, a sudden dizzy spell hit her, but strong hands were right there, grabbing her waist to steady her. She grabbed his arms to brace herself until she felt the room had stopped spinning before she lifted her eyes to meet his. It was in this moment did she notice how close they were, and that his hands were still gripping her waist. "Are you sure you're alright?" he seemed to be searching her eyes for an answer to that question, until he stopped and found something else. It was the eyes of the woman he thought about everyday he was on that island. As he stood there, holding her in his arms did he have to ask himself how he ever walked away from her.

"I'm fine." Katie said pulling from his grasp and taking a few steps away from him. He wanted to say so much to her, but he knew the timing was all wrong, and there were still people upstairs he needed to make sure were alright.

When they returned the vigilantes were gone, and soon the entire floor was filled with police trying to survey the area. Katie sat in a chair off to the side, her head resting on her hand and her eyes closed.

"Here." a voice spoke and Katie opened her eyes to see a glass of water in her face. She lifted her head to see Oliver who was holding it out to her. "You look like you could use it." Katie didn't say anything before taking the glass from his hand and taking a sip. "Maybe you should get looked at."

"I fine." she said once again, her tone revealing way too much of what she was feeling at the moment. She dropped her eyes from his and just shook her head. "You should check on everyone else." Oliver stood there for a moment, hesitating, but he soon turned to leave.

"So I hear you're still being stupid." a voice said and Katie turned her head to see Lance, now dressed in his officer's uniform. "Maybe I should save my breath this time?"

"Don't." Katie said giving the man a small smile. "I could use a rational person in my life." he knelt down in front of her, letting his eyes go over her. It was strange that in this last year the man in front of her seemed to have a change of heart about a lot of things. Her being one of them.

"You don't look too hot. Are you alright?"

"You sound like you care Officer Lance." Katie said dropping her head back against her hand.

"Just doing my job." he says before standing up straight and giving her shoulder a squeeze before walking off.

She closed her eyes once again, trying to ignore the pounding in her head when another hand touched her shoulder. Katie opened her eyes and looked up see John standing beside her and the swarm of police that were once there now gone. She didn't want to freak out at the sudden loss of time, not until she had to. John held out a hand to her and she took it graciously as he helped her to her feet.

"C'mon." he said and so Katie followed behind him until they met up with both Oliver and Felicity who were headed into an office.

"You could have stopped those guys." Felicity said angrily as she looked over to Oliver who walked behind the desk. John and Katie came in as well, but John went to stand closer, whereas Katie chose to stand a bit further away. This was not a room she wanted to be in at the moment. Oliver glanced over to her for a second before turning back to Felicity.

"Not without giving Isabel Rochev and the hoods a pretty good idea of what I'm capable of." Oliver countered.

"I think what Felicity's wondering is whether you avoided taking those hoods on. And, Oliver, she's not the only one wondering." John added.

"I told you, I did not come back to Starling City to be the Vigilante." Oliver said and Katie couldn't help but look over to him with confusion. His eyes once again found hers, and she had to turn away. Actually she needed to get out of this room that seemed to be sucking the air from her lungs. She turned to look out the window, hoping no one was noticing her trying to just breathe.

"Because when I put on the hood, it's kill or be killed. That is what kept me alive. That's why I should have stayed on the island." the moment the words came out of Oliver's mouth he wished they hadn't because the one person avoiding his gaze turned back to him with a look as if she'd been slapped in the face.

Katie shook her head before turning and heading for the door, but she stopped. God help her, she wanted to leave, to never turn back, but her feet stopped moving and she turned back to face him. It was out of habit really. Sometimes Oliver Queen said something so stupid, she just had to correct him.

"We all make choices. It's what makes us human, because we can either choose one option over the other. Right now you're standing here telling us that an article of clothing takes that choice away from you and I'm calling bullshit." she takes a very slight step forward, her eyes on his and his never leaving hers. "You are Oliver Queen and when you put that hood on you're Oliver Queen. You decide where that arrow goes, how deep it penetrates and just how lethal it can be. You want to run from being what this city needs, fine, but don't stand there and say it's because you don't want to kill and with that hood there's no choice. Say you're scared, say you're afraid of being the murderer Tommy once accused you of being. When you admit that you're afraid, maybe then can you over come it. Maybe then you can-" her lungs were burning for air and she just needed out of this room and away from the man who crushed all of her hope for the love she's always wanted. "You can see what fear has been keeping you from." Katie turned and rushed out of there, not daring to look back. When she finally stepped outside the doors of QC to the outside, it felt as if she could breathe again.


	2. Sparkle of Hope

**Chapter 2**

**Sparkle of Hope**

_"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."  
_

_-Desmond Tutu_

* * *

There is this little voice in everyone's head that says the things you just don't want to hear. It's usually the things you're probably supposed to do, but you really just don't want to. That little voice in Katie's head was telling her to turn around, find Oliver and tell him that she still loves him, but she didn't. She just kept imagining how pathetic she would look chasing after a man whose crushed her hopes on more than one occasion. And so she decided to ignore that little voice in hopes that one day it would just die.

Oliver soon found himself with everyone knowing his purpose in life, and him still being in the dark about it. Once upon time, he thought he knew what he was supposed to do. Cross the names off the list like his father wanted, and then one day it all went to hell and his life's mission was just obliterated. At least that's what he thought. Oliver needed some clarity, to talk to someone who always seemed to tell him the things he didn't see or didn't want to see. There were a couple of people in his life that fit that description and the majority of them weren't talking to him at the moment and so he went to the person who never turned him away.

Oliver sat with his hands folded over a table, in the dim lit, cold room. His eyes scanned the room, and a sigh escaped his lips when suddenly the door opened and appeared the woman he wanted to see.

"Hey mom." Oliver says standing to his feet, but stopping. He wants to walk around to hug her, but he remember the rules about the limited touching that were told to him before he came inside. The woman gave him a smile, as they both finally sat down.

"I'm sorry, I meant to be here sooner." Oliver says and Moira simply shakes her head.

"Oh, no, no Oliver. There are going to be enough apologies from me for the rest of my life."

"You don't have to be." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "And I know Thea hasn't come to visit, I'm just sorry no one's been here but your lawyer."

"That's not true." Moira replied with a smile. "Katherine has come to visit me, one or two times a week since I've been brought in. I told her that she didn't have to, but she still comes." Oliver stared at his mother for a moment, turning away slightly with a smile. "So Europe?"

"Uh, yeah." Oliver says turning back to his mother. "I just needed to get away. After Tommy, I just couldn't deal."

"I get it, completely, but I think you should know that if I weren't a ward of the state at the moment I would probably give you a smack to the back of the head dear." Oliver looked at his mother in confusion. "I am your mother, and I want nothing more than I want you happy and she was right there and you left."

"Mom-"

"You were hurting and sad and in pain about Tommy, about me, about the city and you ran from the one thing I think could've made it all a little bit bearable. I love you Oliver, and I've chosen to let you make your own decisions in life, but I think on this you should listen to your mother. I don't know what you're afraid of, but I'm telling you that if you don't get over it, you will lose her and I know you don't want that to happen." Oliver looked at his mother for a few moments taking in her words. "You love her."

"I do. I really do." Oliver spoke, a smile coming to Moira's lips at her son's admission. She reached over and took her son's hand in hers.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

When Katie returned home, she headed back down her basement where she sat staring up to the information she gathered on the vigilantes. It was her new distraction from the man who was proving every minute how much of her heart he still had. She didn't realize how long she'd been sitting there until her phone rang snapping her from the daze she'd fell under. Katie looked down to the number before bringing the phone to her ear.

"Speedy, how's it cooking good looking?"

_"You're such a dork you know that?" _

"I do know that." Katie replied with a small smile as she ran a hand over her eyes. "What's up?"

_"Just making sure you were coming tonight._" Thea replied and Katie let out a tired sigh.

"But I already went to one Verdant opening." Katie whined.

_"Yeah, well new management means you're getting that fine ass all pretty and bringing it down here to show your support for the little sister you wish you had."_

"And that would be?"

_"You think you're funny, but you're not. I expect to see you here bright eyed and bushy tailed."_

"Well I doubt my eyes will be bright, and I can promise that my tail will not be bushy." Katie said and she heard Thea chuckle. "So I visited your mom today."

_"Could we not do this again. Today's supposed to be a good day and you're dragging me down Twinkie."_

"She's your mother-"

_"And was part of a conspiracy that killed hundreds of people. I think me not wanting to talk to her is justified."_

"You're forgetting one thing."

_"What's that?"_

"You only get one mom in your entire life and once she's gone there's no getting her back. Look I'm not justifying what your mother did or didn't do, because that will be the job of a judge and jury. What I'm saying is that you need to talk to her."

_"I don't want to do this now. I have to go, I will see you at the opening or I'm never speaking to you again._" Thea replied before ending the call.

Katie let out a deep sigh, turning back to the wall she'd found to become an obsession more than anything. There were no answers here, and in all honesty she doesn't know what she would do if there were. She wasn't the hero or the vigilante. She was supposed to be the doctor, and yet ever so often she found herself drawn to this obsession. At the moment it wouldn't be a decision she would have to make sense she had nothing new, and so she would find something in her closet and go off to this stupid opening.

Katie stood dressed in a pair of jeans and nice black crop top that she covered with a leather jacket, staring down to the pills in her hand. Their purpose was to keep her up and energized, which they did along with a couple adverse side effects that she was noticing more and more everyday. Against what her head was screaming at her to do, Katie dropped the pills back into the bottle before rushing off to the opening.

There were some pretty distinct differences between this opening and the last. Thea seemed to make the club more modern from the bar stools to the lighting. Katie's chosen place was at the bar where she stared down to a glass of club soda. There would be no drunk Twinkie at this opening.

"Are you going to drink that or stare at it all night." a voice said from beside Katie. She looked over to the familiar face and smile. "Whoa, you look beat."

"Thanks Roy, that's something every woman likes to hear in a club." Katie said with a shake of her head. Roy Harper, boyfriend of Thea who had a bit of an obsession with finding the hood once upon a time. Now, he's working with her at the club, and being a bit of a pain. "Any luck getting her to talk to her mom."

"No, she's being stubborn."

"I know, I talked to her earlier and she's being a brat about this." Katie said spinning her stool to look out to see Thea with a tray of drinks sifting through the crowd.

"What should we do?" Roy asked folding his arms over his chest, and looking over to Katie who just shrugs.

"Annoy the hell out of her until she caves." Katie says her eyes wandering around the club when she sees something that doesn't look right. "You have to be kidding me." Roy turns about to ask her what's up when he spots the hooded figures that seem to be walking into the club. Just like that gun fire erupts and every one drops to the floor. A bullet is shot at the dj booth, leaving no sound but the cries and whimpers of club goers.

"Where is Oliver Queen?!" one of the men asks and Katie looks up to see the lone gun man without any back up and his back to her. She was about to attack, when Roy suddenly jumps to his feet and tackles the man, knocking the gun from his hand. Roy quickly grabs the gun before turning it to the other vigilante who reached into the crowd and picks up Thea, pressing his gun to her head.

Katie's eyes darken as she watches the frightened look on Thea's face as the gun seems to press even harder against her.

"I'm just as happy to kill this Queen as her brother!" one of the masked men says. "Let's go!" and just like that they're backing out of the club. Katie jumps to her feet and follows after them, but the moment she steps outside the only thing she sees is a van without any plates speeding away.

"Son of a bitch!" she snaps punching her fist into the brick wall of the club. She ignores the pain that shoots through her before she turns and walks back inside.

Sitting and doing nothing was killing her, and so Katie quickly found herself on her feet pacing back and forth going over every moment of what happened trying to remember something that could help lead to Thea.

"Hey," Felicity said as she and John walked over, but Katie didn't stop pacing. "What happened?"

"It was them. Four of them, they were looking for Oliver." Katie let out a shaky breath, but never stopped pacing. "Roy attacked one of them, but they got Thea and they took her." Felicity and John noticed the slight twitch of the woman's fingers at her side. They also noticed her bruised knuckles that didn't seem to bother her. "There were four of them, medium height, everything covered but their eyes. They left in a van with no plates." Katie stopped and turned to them. "That's all I have and yet it's nothing that can help us find her."

"Look calm down, I'm sure there's something." Felicity said placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. That's when Oliver walked through the door. Katie stood there and saw how his eyes darkened at the news that his sister was just taken. If there was anything that could get him to put that hood on once again, this would be it. He headed toward the basement, casting a glance over to them as he did. "I guess we should-" Felicity and John began to follow, but Katie found her feet unmoving. It was Felicity who stopped and turned back to her. "This is the part where we find her." Katie simply nodded before following the woman into the basement.

If the situation were different and this wasn't Thea who was missing, Katie might revel in the fact that this was like her first case as a full fledged member of the team. But since this was the situation and this was Thea, the only focus was getting her back.

"Thea's boyfriend said that one of them was missing part of his hand." Oliver said.

"Maybe a veteran." Katie suggested and they all looked over to her and nodded. She looked over to Felicity. "That information would be in hospital records." Felicity nodded before heading over to her computer and taking a seat. They all gathered around and waited for the results.

"Cross checking by race and age." Felicity said, her fingers seeming to peck away at the keys in front of her. "Got it, Jeff Deveau. Caucasian, late thirties."

And just like that they had lead, one that told them that Jeff didn't lose his hand in the army, but during the Undertaking where he lost his wife. Apparently there were a lot of calls to some church that held a support group for those who lost loved one during the explosions. That's where Oliver was going to look first.

With his hood, and his new and improved bow, Oliver was once again going to fight the good fight. Katie stood off to the side, trying and failing not to look at him in his full fledged vigilante gear. To this day, it is still hard to believe that the guy who used to be her secret friend, was now a bit of a hero. She finally decided to walk over to him, and he glanced over to her.

"So you're going to do this by yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah, four guys shouldn't be too bad to take down." Oliver replied tossing his quiver over his shoulder. He took a step toward her, only for her to inch away. "Katie-"

"You should go save your sister." Katie said stopping a conversation that definitely couldn't happen right now. Oliver simply nodded before pulling the hood over his head. She did place a hand on his arm stopping him. "This is just a hood. You choose what happens when you wear it." he looked at her for moment a slight smile on his face, wanting to say so much, but he chose to just keep inside. He nodded once again before heading for the door.

Katie sat in a chair, barely able to keep herself up, as she held her head in her hands. Her eyes were heavy, and with every passing second she was cursing herself for not taking those pills. She had lots of reasons for why she couldn't, but right now, in this second when it felt like everything inside of her was shutting down, none of those reasons mattered. They'd been waiting for what felt like forever when Felicity jumped to her feet.

"He found her!" she said smiling brightly as she turned to her and John. "And no one's dead."

"Where's Thea?" Katie asks standing to her feet.

"She's fine, but she's being taken to Starling General to be looked at." Felicity said. Katie only nodded before turning and rushing up the stairs.

Katie practically ran through the sliding doors, and stopped at the front desk. She was about to ask about Thea, when she turned to see Roy down the hall.

"Hey!" she called and Roy turned to face her. "Where is she?"

"She's being checked out now." Roy said pointing to the room she was in. Katie didn't hesitate before walking over, just as a familiar face stepped from Thea's room.

"Dr. James?" Katie asked as the man stopped in front of her. "You're Thea's doctor?"

"Yes, we just finished looking her over and she's fine. No scratches or bruises." Christian said and Katie let out a sigh of relief. "She's still a bit shaken up." he looked over to Roy. "She was asking for you." the young man nodded before rushing inside to be with his girlfriend.

"So you're positive, they didn't do anything to her?"

"No, we asked her about a rape kit and she assured us nothing like that happened. She was just tied up in a church the entire time." he said and Katie nodded, when the man suddenly touched her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she asked pulling from his grasp.

"Your pupils are dilated." Christian says pulling his flash light from his pocket and shining it in her eyes. Katie tried to pull away, but for some reason it didn't seem to be doing much. "You have dark circles around your eyes. What are you taking?"

"Nothing." Katie says with a shake of her head. She tried to step around him, but he blocked her.

"Katie, look I know you're good doctor so when I tell you to think, I know you listen." he lowered his head so their eyes were level. "Whatever it is, stop. You shouldn't be treating patients if you can barely function properly." he said before turning and walking down the hall. "I want to see you in a week, or I'm making a call!"

Katie stood there for a moment before taking a step toward Thea's room, but she stopped when she looked inside to see her and Roy in an embrace she couldn't bare to interrupt. She turned only to bump into someone who grabbed her around the waist to stabilize her.

"Oh, sorry, I-" she looked up to familiar blue eyes that seemed to take her breath away. "It's you."

"Yeah, it's me." Oliver said looking down to her for a second, before forcing himself to look up to Thea's room. "How is she?"

"Fine, shaken up, but I would expect nothing less after being kidnapped." she looked over her shoulder into the room. "She's with Roy now, so I would give them a couple of minutes. They're having one of those sickening adorably cute couple moments." she turned back to him looking down to his hands that were still planted firmly on her waist. "And you can let go of me now."

"Oh, sorry." Oliver relinquished his hold on her before she turned and went down the hall. "Wait!" Why did she stop? She told herself to ignore him and just keep walking, but she stopped. It was that voice in her head that she wished would die, but had no doubt it wouldn't. She heard his footsteps get closer before he appeared in front of her. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

"Is this the part where you tell me you're sorry?" she asked choosing to look at his chest instead of his eyes. She wants to be angry and speak strongly and she doesn't think she can do that if she's looking into his eyes. Actually she's afraid that if she does look in his eyes she just might jump him right here in the middle of this hospital hallway. "Or where you say that if you could change what happened you would?" she once again felt the air in her lungs leaving her. "Are you going to tell me that it was all a mistake and that-" Oliver placed his hands on her shoulders and her eyes shot up to meet his.

"No, this is where I tell you that I love you." Katie shouldn't want to kiss him right now, but every beam in her body wants to.

"Mr. Queen!" a voice says from behind them, but they don't turn away right away. "Mr. Queen?" Oliver finally breaks the contact to see Christian waving for him to come over.

"I should-"

"Go." Katie said with a nod. Oliver stood there for a moment before walking around her and heading over to talk to the doctor. Katie found herself frozen in that place in the crowded hall, suddenly feeling the air in her lungs once again. She was afraid that she would never hear him say those words again. Now that he did, and there's suddenly metaphorical light at the end of a metaphorical tunnel. Katie wasn't sure how she felt about that realization and so she decided that after checking on Thea, she'd go home. At the moment, the close proximity to Oliver Queen was clouding her mind and all rationale seemed to be floating away by the minute.

This time when Katie arrived home, she ended up in her father's office. With Thea now safe and sound, and the hoods now locked away in jail it was time to focus on the company and she usually got her big ideas in her father's chair. A part of her likes to believe that his spirit sometimes comes down and graces her with ideas that only he could give. She wasn't sure how reliable it was, seeing as her father held a bit of a double life one she should be looking into, but never has the courage to.

Katie sits there for only a few minutes when a thought hits her. It was a thought she's not even sure is possible, so about one o clock in the morning she dials the number of someone who could verify it for her.

"Jeremy-"

_"Why are you calling me? Why aren't you sleeping?"_

"I have an idea that I think may solve our problems." Katie said.

_"Why does that make me nervous?"_

The next morning, Jeremy stalked off the elevator of QC with a huff as he headed toward Oliver's office. He stopped in front of a blonde who met his gaze when he walked over.

"I need to speak with Oliver."

"Do you have an appointment?" Felicity asked and the man rolled his eyes in annoyance, spotting Oliver sitting at his desk in the office. Without another word, the man walks past her toward the office. "Hey, you can't-" Oliver stands to his feet when the pair walks into his office. "He doesn't have an appointment and he's rude."

"It's fine Felicity." Oliver says and the woman sends a glare toward Jeremy before turning and stalking out of the office. "Mr. Locke, it's been a long time."

"Not long enough if you ask me." Jeremy grumbles walking over and taking a seat across from Oliver.

"Please, sit." Oliver says sarcastically with a shake of his head before taking a seat is well. "What do you want?"

"I'm not sure if you know this, but I am the COO of Robins Incorporated." Jeremy says placing his briefcase in his lap. "Not CEO. No, the CEO is my pain in the ass cousin who gets these wild ideas and I'm forced to go along with them."

"Katie hired you back?" Oliver asked and Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"That's not what's important right now." Jeremy says pulling out a folder and sliding it across Oliver's desk. "She's saving your ass. I don't know why, especially after you were all lovey dovey, and then you up and left, but I digress." Oliver's brow furrowed in confusion before he opened the folder and glanced down to the forms inside. "We bought that ten percent share you needed this morning." Oliver lifted his eyes to meet the man. He had been racking his brain ever since he had the meeting the day before with Isabel Rochev. They needed to buy a ten percent share of the company so they didn't lose their standing as the controlling power of the company. "I'm supposed to like this because detailed in that contract is that I am to oversee the assets we're passing along to QC."

"You're going to spy, see if Rochev aims at RI next." Oliver replied and Jeremy simply nodded. "And this was Katie's idea?" Jeremy just nodded clearly annoyed. "I guess it's a win-win."

"It is, but I still don't like you so there's that." the man said lounging back in his seat. "When's this meeting? I want to see her face when we pull this rabbit out of the hat." Oliver just shook his head, his eyes glancing down to the contract in front of him.

Katie stands beside John, staring down to the article of the vigilante's return and taking down the hoods. She'd gotten a text from Felicity earlier asking for her to come here, and she still had yet to gain a reason.

"This is like my last official day off before I'm tossed back into the jungle that is GMH." Katie says dropping her head on John's shoulder. "Where are they?"

"I see you haven't gotten any patience since I was last here." Oliver's voice says as he and Felicity walk down the stairs. "The meeting ran kind of long, but things ended on a positive note." he looked over to Katie with a smile. "I guess I should thank you for that."

"Don't thank me. It was a business move." Katie said with a shrug turning back to the computer.

"Well it looks like Starling is back down to one in a hood." John says looking to Oliver.

"And the four of us are back in the archery business." Felicity added and Katie just shook her head before turning back to them. She doesn't know why, but she feels as though they've moved past just shooting people with arrows.

"No," Oliver said and Katie met his eyes. "I spent the past year trying to avenge my father. If we're going to do-" he looked around the new lair. "-this, it has to be about honoring Tommy. I need to become the man he hoped I could be. You three have helped me take the first step."

"So what's the next step?" Katie asked and he turned to her with a slight smile.

"The city still needs saving." Oliver says walking over to the display case that holds the hood. "But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list." he grabs an arrow and glances down to it for a moment. "It needs something more."

"It needs stoner Dave." Katie comments gaining looks from everyone in the room. "Kidding." she turned back to Oliver. "I think it needs a hero."

"Too bad the hoods kind of ruined your nickname" Felicity commented and Oliver didn't look too disappointed at the fact.

"It was a horrible name anyway." Katie muttered gaining looks from the others. "It was! It lacked any kind of originality, and it was just plain dumb." she shook her head before once again turning away.

"I agree." Oliver added. "Plus I didn't like the name all that much anyways."

"What do you want to be called?" John asks and Oliver's eyes glance down to the arrow in his hand.

"You're not thinking something as cliche as the Arrow, are you?" Katie asks and he can't help the smile that tugs on his lips.

"I was actually. What do you think?"

"Meh." Katie said with a wave of her hand before walking over to the training mat, letting out a yawn as she does. She hears his footsteps before he makes his presence known and so she prepares herself for the conversation she'd been expecting.

"You look tired." he says and she can't help the chuckle that escapes her lips as she turns to him.

"Well the last couple of days have been very exciting." Katie replies glancing over to see John and Felicity have mysteriously disappeared. She turns back to Oliver who still watches her as if searching for something.

"So your problem with sleep hasn't gotten any better?" he asks and Katie just shakes her head. "And you haven't looked into getting some help." She wants to hit him in this moment, because he's not supposed to care. The Oliver in her head who sleeps with her and then disappears to a deserted hell island, doesn't care about her sleep patterns.

"You know I would if I thought anyone could help." Katie says turning away from him and walking over the weapons that hang on the wall. "My problem is beyond something a doctor can fix."

"I left before I could-"

"Save me?" Katie asks turning back to him. "You left before a lot of things. Oliver it was never going to be that easy." he took a careful step toward her. "Don't do that." Katie moved back, keeping the distance between them.

"I'm sorry." he said meeting her eyes. He knew she hated apologies, but at the moment, there were no other words he could think to say in this moment. "I wish I didn't leave at that moment, and if I could I would change that. I wouldn't have left after we-"

"It would've hurt whenever you left Oliver." Katie says and Oliver can't help the twinge he feels when she says his name again. He'd gotten so used to Liver, and the love he heard behind it whenever she said it. He hated the name, but would give anything to hear her say it right now. "It wasn't the moment you chose to leave Oliver, it was the fact that you left, you-" she took a step forward, but stopped herself finding the distance between them helped keep her thoughts straight. "You told me not to run, that running doesn't change anything, and then what do you do?!" there was cap she thought she had on these emotions that she realized wasn't as tight as she hoped it was. "You wanted me to trust you with the things that are breaking me inside, and yet you wouldn't do the same for me." Katie dropped her eyes from his hoping to hold on to the little resolve she had. "Look, maybe it was just a sign that you and I shouldn't cross that line. It may take some time but we can figure out how to be friends-"

"We can't be friends again." Oliver said suddenly and Katie met the seriousness in his eyes. "I can't just be your friend. I can work with you on this team, but as far as you and me goes, I want more."

"I wanted more too Oliver, and I put everything on the line, I gave it all and it wasn't enough to get you to stay. When you let someone in, and they turn away from you it hurts. When they travel all the way to a fucked up island, it's heart breaking." she slid her fingers through her hair, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. "You-" she shook her head when a stray tear fell despite the restraint she thought she had. "You told me you loved me and I believed it, I believed every word and then I woke up and you were gone." Oliver took a couple of steps forward and before she could pull away, he caught her arm and pulled her to him. "Oliver, no, just don't, just-" she pulled away from him, slightly, but it seemed the moment his arms came around her, she stopped. She hated that even in this moment, this place in his arms always felt right. She didn't pull away and a part of him was glad because it meant that she wanted to feel him as much as he wanted to touch her. She turned away, not wanting to look in his eyes and get pulled in.

"I love you." Oliver replied stressing every word. Despite what she was feeling, it would remain true that every time those words came out of his mouth her heart skipped a beat. "And I know you love me." when her eyes returned to his she felt the moment the wall she'd built up starting falling away. "I just need another chance, I can be the guy who you can trust, who you can depend on and who-"

"Words." Katie interrupted him. She leaned in just a little, and he did the same more out of instinct more than anything. "You know how I feel about words." she pulled from his grasp and walked away placing distance between them once again. She was about to climb the stairs when she stopped and turned back to him. "Words are easy, proving it is what really matters. So Oliver, prove it." and with that she turned rushed up the stairs.

Oliver stood there for a moment as the challenge that surrounded her words played in his head. It was a challenge he was willing to take. He spent a year on Lian Yu away from everything and she filled practically every thought, and she flitted into practically every dream. There was no way he was going to give up on this, he would make it right and prove to her that he deserved another chance...that they deserved another chance. That thought caused a smile to pull at his lips because she could've ended everything right then and there, and she could've declared that no relationship between them was possible and yet she didn't.

"He's smiling." Felicity said over to John when they returned back to the basement. "Should we be worried?"

"I'm not sure yet." John said waving a hand in front of an oblivious Oliver who didn't seem to know they were even back. "Earth to Oliver." Oliver finally snapped his eyes back to his friends. "Where were you just now?"

"Nowhere?" Oliver says walking over and hopping up and taking a seat on one of the tables. "So tell me what I've missed?"

"Well you know about your mother's trial and Thea with the club." Felicity said walking over to take a seat as well. "Alderman Blood running for mayor. " she shook her head. "That's a horrible name isn't it? I wouldn't want to wear that pin."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not what you're looking to know?" John asked and Oliver let out a sigh. "Just come out with it."

"I couldn't help but notice a certain Gotham resident hasn't been around lately." Oliver says. John lifts his head to Felicity who just turns away. "What happened?"

"He just left. I'm sure there's this whole back story, but all we got was that it was time for him to go home." John says still looking over to Felicity. Oliver follows his eyes and then turns back with a look of confusion. It takes him a few seconds to realize something had happened with Bruce and Felicity before he left.

"Felicity-" the woman turned to them and just shook her head.

"She told him to leave and so he did. That's all I know, but I figure something bad happened. They were really close, so it had to be big." John noticed the quizzical look in Oliver's eyes and it was usually a look he got when he was thinking up a plan.

"What are you thinking?" John asks and Oliver simply shakes his head.

"Nothing." Oliver says hopping from the table. "I think I'm going to head to the mansion. I want to talk to my mother's lawyer to see how things are coming along." he looked between John and Felicity. "I'll see you guys later." They both wave him bye, before watching his climb up the stairs toward the bar. It was when he was gone, did a low chuckle escape John's lips.

"What's so funny?" Felicity asked looking over to the man like he was crazy.

"He said he was headed to the mansion." John said and Felicity just looked even more confused.

"And him going home is funny because..."

"Because he didn't say he was going home." John says with a shake of his head. "I'm starting to think Oliver has it bad."

"Whoa, you're kind of late." Felicity replied turning back to her computers. "He's got it bad and then some."

That night Katie removes the articles of the hooded vigilantes and placed them in a shoe box and stores it off to the side of the basement. Once they're all down, Katie stares up to the bare wall before turning and picking up a photograph and pinning it up. She scribbles on a post it, before sticking it below the picture. At that desk, in that chair is where she sits, staring at the picture of her father, the words '_Who are you?' _written below it.

It's time to find out the truth.


	3. Asking

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Asking**

_"You create your opportunities by asking for them."_

_Shakti Gawain_

* * *

One of the distinguishing characteristics that separates humans from animals is that humans have become accustomed to burying their dead. Five hundred people were killed worse than animals, but they were still buried.

Katie's fingers slides through the warm grass beneath her as she rocks back and forth in the spot between her parent's graves. She isn't completely sure why she still comes here. She doesn't usually talk to them, or update them on her life. For about forty five minutes, Katie just sits in this spot. Even though her eyes are closed she hears the movement behind her.

"Sneaking up on people in cemeteries is not cool." she muttered never stopping the mindless pattern she was tracing in the grass. Mostly because she knows it's him. His aftershave usually gives him away.

"I wasn't sneaking, I just didn't want to disturb you." Oliver replied walking over to stand right behind her. "I was visiting with Tommy and spotted you over here."

"I guess we have the same dead people visiting schedule." Katie say opening her eyes to look at the names of her parents etched into stone in front of her. "My schedule is probably going to be wide open soon." she let out a sigh before standing to her feet and turning to see the man dressed in a very nice suit. She'd heard from Felicity that he was taking over the duties of CEO at QC, but there was a part of her that couldn't quite believe it. Oliver didn't have the passion for the company as his father did, but she guessed that right now he has no other choice. "CEO Oliver Queen I presume." his tie was slightly crooked and for some reason reaching up to straighten seemed to be the right thing to do. It wasn't until she'd fixed his tie, and her hands fell to rest on his chest did she realize that maybe it was a mistake. His heart was beating fast in his chest and she could feel even through his clothes. When Katie lifted her head, and her eyes met his and Oliver never felt the need to kiss anyone as he did in his moment. He dropped his head slightly in an effort to meet her lips. All she had to do was meet him halfway, but instead she pulled back. "I have to go." she walked around him a little surprise at her own strength do something as hard as not letting Oliver kiss her.

"Did you get my flowers?" he called after her and he heard her laugh.

"Yep, all one thousand of them!" she replied turning to him as she walked backwards. "I gave them to the patients, so thank you for that." she was about to turned again when he spoke.

"Have dinner with me!" he called and Katie stopped walking. She turned back to him with a furrowed brow as he walked over to close the distance between them. She doesn't think she heard him correctly.

"Like a...date?" that question made him chuckle, because he thought it was pretty obvious.

"Yes, a date." Oliver says taking another step toward her. "I would like to take you on a date." Katie turned away for a moment, a bit surprised that this was happening. When she was younger she'd always used to dream of the day Oliver Queen would ask her on a date, and after a while she sort of gave up hope.

"You think a couple of flowers makes up for what you did?" Katie asked and Oliver shook his head.

"Of course not. I know what I did was shitty and awful timing, but I'm here and I'm trying to prove to you that if you give me a second chance I won't let you down again. How do I do that? Tell me." Katie stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"It's not that easy Oliver. There isn't some magic solution that's going to erase the past year of me wondering what about me was so easy to walk away from. Or how someone who claimed to have loved one me could leave via note on a pillow." she turned about to leave when he caught her arm and she stopped.

"Why can't dinner be the beginning?" Oliver asked and Katie turned to meet his eyes. "A fresh start. We start new and leave the past behind us."

"I can't." she finally said and she could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"Why not? You asked me to prove that I deserve a second chance, then why can't this be it?" Oliver said and Katie let out a sigh.

"Well because I'm busy." Katie says folding her arms over her chest. "Because I have to work Mr. Queen at a job that no longer allows for free time or social lives. At least until the doors are shut." she turned and began walking toward the cemetery gates.

"GMH." Oliver muttered to himself before walking over to catch up to Katie. "Last night-"

"Last night Roy tried to play the vigilante to stop one of the GMH's medicine shipments from being stolen, I know. I talked to Thea. It's nothing new. Ever since the Undertaking, that hospital is fighting to stay alive. I've tried to help, but apparently the grunt of my money is tied up in investors who I would have to convince to invest in something that doesn't make them money." They reached the street where a cab awaited Katie and John awaited Oliver.

"We're going to find out who's stealing the hospital's medicine." Oliver declared and Katie turned to him. "And then you're going to have dinner with me." Katie couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips before she turned about to head to her cab, but Oliver caught her arm.

"You'll get that date if you deserve it Mr. Queen." was Katie's chosen reply, before pulling from his grasp and heading to her cab.

"Let me drive you to work." Katie stopped and turned back to him before glancing over to John who simply shrugged. "Well John will drive, but it's my car, so it's like I'm-"

"Stop talking." Katie says chuckling at the man who rarely gets flustered, start to babble. "Oliver, you don't have to-"

"But I want to." Oliver replied walking over and handing the taxi driver a few bills before waving him off. He turned back to Katie with a smile. "Shall we?" Katie just shook her head and walked over to the car, Oliver beside her his hand resting on the small of her back.

"I could've paid for that taxi." Katie muttered over to him.

"I know, but everything isn't about you." Oliver replied and Katie couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter as he opened her door.

"You're such a jackass." she said stepping into the car. The sound of her laughter brought a smile to his lips as he stepped into the car with her. "Alright, I should probably warn you that you shouldn't get out of the car when we get there." Oliver quirked an eyebrow turning to her. "There have been protesters all week in front of the hospital demanding something be done about the lack of resources the hospital has for treating patients since the Undertaking. And since your name is the biggest association with this, I just think it might be a good idea if you just didn't show your face."

"Thanks for the suggestion." Oliver muttered and Katie couldn't help but feel that it had all went in one ear and out the other. When they arrived, it was just as Katie expected. There was a mob of people standing outside, chanting and holding signs. John got out of the car first, walking around to open Oliver's door.

"Oliver, don't-" Katie tried but he simply turned to her with a look she knew meant that he was doing this. So he stepped from the car and held out a hand to help her out. The sight of the angry crowd, made him bring an arm around Katie's waist and pull her to his side. He sent a silent glance to John who nodded before they all headed for the door. It was when they were close did they notice the camera crew that seemed to be focusing on one man. It was Alderman Sebastian Blood, the man who seemed to be at the forefront of this fight for the Glades.

"Meanwhile, thieves are seeking to make a quick buck off the misery of the Glades." The Alderman said, his eyes finding Oliver. "Oliver Queen, isn't it?"

"Alderman." Oliver says as they stop, his hand never leaving Katie. The Alderman looks to her with a slight nod.

"What brings you to Glades Memorial, Mr. Queen?" he asks walking over to them. "I assume someone of your means can afford the best medical treatment money can buy. And I can assure you, you're not going to find that here." he looks over to Katie.

"Oliver, let's just go." Katie whispered to him, but he just couldn't leave it alone.

"That's wrong, sir." Oliver replies looking the man in the eye. "The people of the Glades have suffered too much not to have access to basic medical services."

"Dr. Robins." Sebastian says and Katie turns to him with a quirked brow surprise that the man knows her name. "Daughter of the late Jacob Robins. CEO of his company, am I right?" Katie silently nodded unsure any words out of her mouth at the moment would be suitable for television. "Interesting career move."

"Well I was a doctor before I was a CEO and in my case one doesn't trump the other." she turned about to head inside when the Alderman spoke again.

"I'm not sure how you can associate with someone whose family ordered the construction of device that ended up taking the lives of five hundred and three people." Katie took a very dangerous step toward the man, but Oliver pulled her back and she let out a very exhausted breath.

"Well unlike you Alderman, I choose to judge people on fact and not the things I think I know." Katie said finally pulling from Oliver's grasp. "I work here and I see the people who come in and out and I want nothing more than to be able to treat them with the proper tools. I want to fix that-" she pointed a finger at him. "You want to fix that. It just doesn't get fixed with a witch hunt." Katie glanced over to the people and the camera being pointed in her face before shaking her head and storming into the hospital. Oliver and John cast one final glance to the crowd before walking in as well.

John hung back, as Oliver followed after Katie into the locker room. She let out a frustrated growl before walking over to her locker.

"He's a political snake. I'm fine." she says turning to him. "You can go."

"I am going to find out who's stealing the medicine from this hospital." Oliver declared once again and Katie nodded with a smile.

"I know you are." she says turning and opening her locker. Oliver took a step toward her, when the door to the locker room pushed open. Oliver turned to see the shaggy haired man stop right at the door and look up to him. Katie looked around and just rolled her eyes. "Stop staring Ethan."

"Oliver Queen is in our locker room." Ethan says obviously stunned by the fact. "I knew you blue bloods all hung out together, but I didn't know you really hung out together." Oliver just turned to the man and held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm it's nice to meet you, uh-"

"Ethan Mills." the doctor said shaking Oliver's hand. "And I know who you are." the man shook his head before walking around to his locker that was just a couple of doors down from Katie. "I knew once you started working here, things were going to get interesting." he looked back to Oliver and just shook his head. Katie pulled her lab coat from her locker and pulled it on over her scrubs before looking to Oliver. "Did you hear Barnes quit?" Katie turned to the man with wide eyes. "That makes three this week. I hear they're already making plans to transfer patients out of here and then they're shutting the doors for good."

"I'm sure the police will find out who's doing this and put a stop to it." Oliver says and Ethan turns to him with a crooked smile.

"Aren't you the optimistic?" Ethan says with a slight chuckle grabbing his lab coat as well. "The truth is, most of our crimes are solved by some guy in a hood. So if anyone figures this out, my money is on him." the man slammed the locker closed before sending a smile to Katie. "I'll see you out there Kit Kat." he walked past Oliver and gave the man a friendly pat on the arm. "Don't keep my girl too long." Oliver's jaw clenched at the statement, and when the man was gone he turned to Katie.

"His girl?" he asked and Katie couldn't help but smile in amusement.

"Jealous?" she teased about to walk past him, but his arm caught her waist and pulled back in front of him. "He calls me Kit Kat. Fifty percent of my time is spent treating patients, the other fifty percent is spent talking myself out of murdering him." she met Oliver's eyes as a small smile came to his lips. "Will you let me go now?"

"This is a good look for you." Oliver says his hands trailing over the collar of her lab coat. Katie just ran a hand over his tie and sighed.

"You look uncomfortable in this suit." she says bringing her eyes back to his. "Just an observation."

"I would very much like to kiss you." Oliver says unable to hide that fact any longer. Katie didn't say anything for a moment her eyes lowering to his lips before going back to his eyes.

"And I would very much like to see a clown break dance." she says pulling from his grasp and walking around to the door.

"I'm going to call you later to check in." Oliver says when Katie opens to door. She looks over her shoulder to him and just shakes her head as he walks over to her. "And I don't think a break dancing clown should be hard to find." with that Oliver walked past her down the hall back to John.

"C'mon Kit Kat." Ethan says appearing behind her and bringing an arm around her shoulders. "Lets go do what we love." Katie simply pushed the man away before walking over to the station to grab her first chart.

And so Katie's day was spent treating leg wounds and stab wounds, dizziness, and so much more. She doesn't think she's treated so many patients in one night. By the time she gets a spare moment for a break, she can barely stand. She ends up in one of the medicine closets, staring up to the minimal supplies that they have wondering if they would even make the night.

"Sad isn't it?" Rebecca says coming in as well. "More trucks were supposed to come in today, but they're late." Katie looked over to the woman. "Patients are being transferred tonight. If those trucks don't get here then they're closing the doors." Katie turned to the sparse supplies and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I know you just started, but you don't even need this job, do you?." Katie turned back to the supplies. "I know that's not why you're here, look I'm sure you could find another position anywhere."

"I haven't given up hope yet. You think this place would miss me for like an hour?" she asked and Rebecca just shrugged her shoulders.

"The place has calmed down, Leslie just showed up, so I guess if you ducked out for a bit it would be alright." the woman replied. "Just please come back, I think I will kill myself if another one of my doctors quit."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you. I will have my pager with me if you need me, ok?" the woman just nodded before watching Katie rush down the hall. Katie grabbed the first cab she could to the foundry, where she rushed in to find John and Felicity.

"What are you doing here, I thought you had to work?" John asked and Katie simply stripped off her lab coat and tossed her bag to the side.

"Yeah, our truck is late and if we don't get that truck then I won't have a job." Katie says walking over to stand on the other side of Felicity to look down to the monitor. "Where's Oliver?"

"He's in the process of stopping another-" Felicity stopped when something appeared on her screen. "Oh, no, no."

"What is it?"

"I have police chatter saying they have the vigilante in sights." Felicity says typing away.

"Are you kidding me?" Katie asked looking down to the screen.

"Oliver got away." Felicity says seeing the notice for all officers to be on the look out.

"The truck?" Katie asked and Felicity turned to her and just shook her head. Katie closed her eyes and let out a frustrated growl before turning and walking off. Katie sat slumped in the corner when Oliver walked...or more like limped in. She jumped to her feet and walked over to him, grabbing his arm to help him walk."What happened?"

"I was shot, I'm fine." he says dropping his bow on a nearby table.

"No one is fine after they get shot. Let me check it out." Katie says helping him to the metal table. Soon Oliver was forced to sit while Katie worked on his leg. He watched her, and knew she was upset and he just felt the need to apologize.

"I'm sorry." he said and Katie glanced up to him.

"Not your fault our fine justice system thwarted your plan." Katie says as she begins stitching up the hole in his ankle. Oliver lets out a hiss and Katie glances up to him. "You alright?" he silently nods.

"You want to tell us what happened?" John asks from his spot across from them. "Whose doing this?" Oliver's eyes turned to Katie who seemed completely focused on stitching up his ankle.

"It was China White." Oliver says and Katie just stops and looks up to him. "She got away with the truck and I would've had her but she had this guy with metal claws."

"Metal claws?" Felicity asks walking over, but grimacing at the sight of Oliver's ankle. "That's new."

"The police showed up, led by Laurel."

"Laurel Lance?" Felicity asked with raised brows. "Your Laurel?" she seemed to realize how that sounded and tried to back track. "I mean not your Laurel, she's not yours-" Felicity's eyes veered to Katie who just looked down to Oliver's ankle and finished the stitches. "I'm going to stop talking."

"So instead of going after the crazy bitch who stole a truck full of medicine, they go after you?" Katie asks with a shake of her head. She bandages Oliver's ankle and stands to her feet pulling the gloves from her hand.

"The police have always gone after the vigilante." Diggle says turning to one of the computers to see if any new information on the stolen truck had come up.

"This was different." Oliver says sliding from the table to see how painful standing would be.

"Why, because it's Laurel leading your lynch mob?" John asks and a flash of anger passes over Oliver's face as he takes a painful step forward.

"I'm leaving now." Katie said interrupting the impending argument that was about to occur. She was already grabbing her things about to leave.

"No, you can't-" Oliver began limping in her direction. "The last time we heard anything about China White, she'd kidnapped you. She knows you're here and we don't know that she won't try again."

"Right, we don't. What we do know is that hundreds of people are being evacuated from a hospital right now and I need to be there to make sure people are being properly transported." Katie said quickly in one breath.

"First I need you to sit." Oliver says grabbing a nearby chair and sliding it over. Katie sent him a slight glare, but sat down. "Now I need you to breathe." Katie took a deep breath. "Now think, what would stop those doors from shutting."

"Medicine, which we don't have." Katie says when her eyes widen with an idea. " I got it!" she jumped to her feet and went in search of her cell phone.

After the call, Katie turned to see no one there but Oliver and looked like someone had just punched him in the face.

"What did you do?" Katie asked walking over to him.

"I didn't know John and Carly weren't together anymore." Oliver replied."And I put my foot in my mouth and now no one likes me."

"Well I have good news. I just called Christian over at General and he is setting up a shipment of supplies to be sent to GMH that should last up for a couple of days. Long enough for another shipment."

"That's good." Oliver says limping over to sit, the pain from standing starting to be a little much. "If there's another shipment then there's going to be another attempted robbery. I will stop her." he looked over to Katie and gave her a nod. "I promise." Katie grabbed another chair and slid up in front of him where she took a seat. "You're about to say something I don't want to hear."

"I'm going back to the hospital and I'm not going to hide in hopes that Chien doesn't find me. If she finds me then I will handle her."

"Like you did the last time?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away. "She bested you-"

"She surprised me."Katie corrects turning back to him. "She's the first person I've seen from-"

"Those three years?" Oliver asked and Katie nodded. Katie let out a long sigh as she reached up and pulled her hair from the pony tail it was in.

"I was sent to steal something from her." Katie began finding it hard to look over to him. And so she chose to look over to the display case of arrows. "A flash drive that apparently could access any computer, no matter how protected. I was successful, I stole the drive and now she wants it back and thinks I still have it." he didn't say anything and she wonders if she's shocked him into silence. So she turns to him, his eyes watching her. "I don't have it if you're wondering."

"I wasn't." he replies and Katie turns away from his intensity in his eyes. "Who sent you?"

"Very bad people." Katie says dropping her head with a shake of her head. When she opened them she met Oliver’s gaze once more before standing to her feet and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know telling you to stay off of that foot is pointless, so I'm going to ask that you minimize your mobility. I can't prescribe you anything since you weren't actually admitted, but there are painkillers in my medicine cabinet, take two." Oliver lifted his head and smiled. "Get better." she placed a kiss on top of his head before walking around toward door.

"I'm still searching for that clown!" he called and he heard her laugh.

"Good luck!" she called back.

Katie had been away from the hospital for about forty five minutes, and her first thought was to just go straight back. Her second thought led her to the police station where she currently stood, staring over to the woman she'd came to see. With a deep breath, Katie walked over with determination in her eyes. Laurel saw her in the corner of her eye, and looked up from the file she was currently reading.

"Uh, hey, this is a surprise." The woman said glancing back down to the file. "I don't really have much time-"

"I heard." Katie interrupts. "Another one of our trucks was stolen and instead of going after the robbers you led an army of police to the guy who wears a hood."

"The vigilante is dangerous, and finding him and making sure he is served justice-"

"Have you been to the Glades lately? Have you walked the halls of my hospital to see people who are barely making it on the lack of medicine we have." Katie dropped her bag on the floor, and grabbed the file from Laurel's hand placing it on a nearby desk. The woman looked taken aback by the move, a dark look coming to her eyes. "I don't care about your vendetta against the vigilante, because that's your business, but when that vendetta blinds you to what's really happening, then I think something will have to be done."

"Are you threatening me Ms. Robins."

"It's doctor." Katie corrects and shakes her head. "And no I'm not threatening you Ms. Lance. I'm telling you that if you want to make a difference with this job then you're going to have stop letting your personal feelings drive you. You need to see what's really important and put all that other shit behind you." Katie grabbed her bag and turned on her heel before stalking out of there.

"What was that about?" Laurel's father asks appearing beside her. Laurel hadn't moved, her eyes fixed on the door Katie had just stormed out of.

"Nothing." she finally say before turning and grabbing her file and walking off.

By the time Katie's shift was over, the sun was up and she could barely move. She sat with her head down at one of the nursing stations.

"I'm giving you a ride today Kit Kat." Ethan says gently rubbing her back. Katie couldn't help but notice how exhausted he sounded.

"I live too far." Katie groaned not even bothering to lift her head.

"I don't care. You worked really hard today, and I'm not letting you take a cab home." he grabbed her arm. "Up, let's go get your stuff." Katie allowed herself to be pulled to her feet and practically dragged toward the locker room. Once she had her jacket and bag they headed for the door, only to stop at the sight of a familiar face.

"What are you doing here John?" Katie asked before letting out a deep yawn. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Oliver just sent me to pick you up." John replies his eyes glancing over to the man whose arm is around Katie's shoulder. "John Diggle." he greets lifting his hand to the man.

"Ethan Mills." the man says before turning to Katie. "He sent a driver. You know if I was a jealous guy, I'd think Oliver was trying to take my girl."

"Go home Ethan." Katie says giving the man a playful swat on the arm. "Sleep and come back tonight so we can do it all over again." Katie walked over, wrapping an arm around John's arm and letting her head drop to his shoulder. "C'mon Mr. Diggle. Take me away from this place."

"As you wish Dr. Robins." the man chuckled as he led her out to the door.

Katie sat in the back of John's car, her eyes closed and her head propped up against the window, but she wasn't sleep. As much as she wants to, a part of her is still too afraid to just give in to the demons that wait for her in her dreams.

"You're not sleeping," John says and Katie cracks open her eyes. "I've seen you sleep, you're a snorer."

"I do not snore." Katie replied closing her eyes again.

"This may be long overdue, but should we be worried about this no sleeping thing?" John asks and Katie doesn't say anything. "Should you be treating patients if you're not sleeping?" Katie opened her eyes and sat up to look over to man who glanced to her ever so often through the rear view mirror.

"When I first arrived in Bosnia for Doctors Without Boarders, I used to go days without sleep and still was able to properly treat patients without any problem. That was a warring country, this is Glades Memorial."

"Answer me this, how many of those sleepless nights were because you were afraid of going to sleep."

"I'm not-"

"Yeah you are. I'm just not sure why?"

Katie turned to look out at the window and she knew it was stupid. She was a doctor who knew all the risks and consequences.

When they pulled in front of Katie's house, the first thing they both noticed was the front door that was wide open.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess that you didn't forget to lock you door." Diggle says already grabbing his gun from his waist band. Katie didn't say anything before she was pushing open her door and walking toward the house. Diggle quickly jumped out of the car to catch up to her. "You know being apart of a team means you're supposed to wait for the team."

"shss-" Katie says waving the man off as they walked into her house. The place was trashed, with furniture, pictures, literally everything either broken or destroyed. Katie walked in, only glancing around once, before stopping. Diggle looked around as well with wide eyes before turning to Katie whose eyes were closed as she stood there.

"What are you-" she held up a hand to stop him. After just a few moments, Katie opened her eyes and turned to the man and sighed. "What just happened?"

"I was seeing if anyone else was here." Katie replies walking around him down the hall that lead to her basement. The door looked tampered with, but it hadn't been opened.

"I'm lost how do you know no one else is here?" John asked and Katie turned to him and just tapped her ear.

"I listened." she said before walking around him once again before climbing up the stairs. "I'll explain later. You should call Felicity and ask her why a security system I shelled out so much money for didn't catch this."

Felicity sat at her new desk that was adjacent to Oliver's office, typing away on her computer. She had some free time and she thought she would see if she could pick anything up on Chien and the stolen hospital supplies. She was so deep in concentration that she jumped when her phone rang. Casting a glance into Oliver's office, she could see him and the Alderman's meeting hadn't gone south just yet. The phone rang again, and she quickly answered.

"Oliver Queen's office how can I help you?"

_"Felicity, it's me. Where's Oliver?"_

"He's in a meeting with Sebastian Blood." Felicity says peeking into the office. "It doesn't look like it's going too bad."

_"Well at least one good thing can happen today."_

"Why, what's wrong?"

The moment John told Felicity of the break in she turned wide eyes to Oliver's office. He wasn't looking over to her, because she's sure if he did, he'd know something was wrong.

"I will tell Oliver." Felicity said before returning the phone to the receiver and standing to her feet and walking into Oliver's office, knocking lightly. "Hi, Oliver sorry to interrupt, but there is something that needs your attention."

"Can it wait, I'm in a meeting." Oliver says. He and the Alderman are finding some common ground and this idea for with this benefit for raise awareness for the hardships that the people of the Glades were face.

"Well it's sort of a Twinkie issue." Felicity said unable to miss the look of confusion that passes the Alderman's face. She also doesn't miss the darkened look in Oliver's eyes. He'd been worried about Katie ever since learning Chien's return to Starling, now he hopes his fears weren't justified. Oliver stands to his feet and holds out his hand to Sebastian.

"I'm sorry to have to cut this meeting short Alderman." Oliver says as the man shakes his hand.

"You know I don't know a lot about business here at QC, but I definitely didn't know you had twinkie crisis."

"It's a code name and it's just something that needs my immediate attention." Oliver says with a tight smile.

"Well it was nice meeting with you Oliver. And I am truly sorry for what happened outside that hospital. Sometimes my emotions get the better of me."

"It happens to the best of us." Oliver replied before watching the man leave. Once he's gone, Oliver turns his eyes to Felicity. "Where is she?"

"She's at home. John says there was a break in-" before Felicity can even finish her sentence, Oliver is heading for the door, but she moves to block him something that elicits a sort of growl that scares her a bit. "Wait, I'm supposed to tell you that she wasn't there during the break in, the house is a total wreck and that they've already called the police." Oliver just nodded before once again trying to for the door, but Felicity once again bravely blocked him.

"Felicity-"

"I'm also supposed to tell you that she doesn't want you to come there if-" Oliver didn't even let her finish when he grabbed her shoulders and actually moved her out of his way before storming out of his office. "I don't even know why I bothered."

When Oliver arrived at Katie's house, police were already filing in. He rushed through the door, ignoring the pain shooting his ankle. A hand grabbed his arm, and he had to stop himself from instinctively attacking. He's glad he did, because he turned to see that it was just John.

"I told Felicity that Katie didn't want you to rush over here."

"She did, I didn't care." Oliver says glancing around at the destruction. "Where is she?"

"She's in the kitchen talking to Lance." John says and not wasting another minute, Oliver turns and heads of to the kitchen. He walks in during Katie's statement and so he doesn't say anything right away. She glances over to him and sighs before turning back to Lance.

"You don't have any idea who would do this? Any enemies?" Lance asked and Katie shook her head.

"That's a very long list , but I don't think anyone on it would go through this much trouble to hurt me."

"Well if nothing was taken, then I would guess that whoever did this really just wanted to mess with you or they were searching for something." The officer asked and Katie cast another glance to Oliver. Lance followed her gaze and shook his head. "You lived here for a while, any idea who could've done this."

"No idea." Oliver says still looking to Katie who was refusing to look at him now.

"Well until we get this all sorted I would suggest you find somewhere to stay for a while."

"That won't be a problem." Oliver says and Katie just shakes her head.

"Call me if you think of anything else, alright?" as expected the man gives her shoulder a light squeeze before turning and walking away. Katie turns and walks out the back door, pinching the bridge of her nose knowing that Oliver isn't too far behind her.

"You weren't supposed to come here." Katie says turning back to him. "Your name is attached to enough bullshit as is, and you don't need to get tangled in this."

"I don't need-" the man releases a heavy breath through his nose before taking a step toward her. She tries to back away, but his hand catches her waist and pulls her to him. They just stand there for a few moments before Katie simply drops her head to his chest and he brings his arms around her. "Right now I don't care about my name or how the media will spin this. I care about you and if I find out someone has broken into our home, then I show up. Every time, I will show up." She wonders if he knows he even said it. The words,"_Our home"_ passed through his lips so easily, that even she barely noticed it. But she did and she felt those girly butterflies fluttering away in her stomach.

"Chien was bold to come here. She still thinks I have that flash."

"You can't stay here."

"I guess I can call Ethan and see if I can crash with him for a-" Oliver pulled back, and looked down to her to see if she was serious. There was only a smile, planted firmly on face. "I like this look Liver." A smile pricked his lips when he heard the name.

"What look is that?" Oliver asks, having to restrain himself from kissing her right there.

"Jealousy." she whispered before pulling out of his grasp before heading back to the house. "Fine, the mansion is huge and I could probably bunk with Thea. I will grab some clothes and meet you at the car."

"Grab a dress!" Oliver called just as she was about to walk inside. He thought she might just wave him off, but she stopped and turned to him with a tilted her. "I'm hosting a benefit tonight and-" Katie folded her arms over her chest as she continued to listen. "This is not a date I promise, our first date won't be at some charity event." she still didn't say anything as she narrowed her eyes. "It will just be this...thing, that you go to with...me."

"Last charity event I went to, I wanted to hurt the people there."

"Well I'll be there this time. To play interference." he said with that Oliver Queen smile that always seemed to cause her insides to melt. There was an internal debate happening inside her head at the moment. She wanted to be angry with him and not talk to him and now she was going to be staying at his house, and he was inviting her to events with him. She still afraid of that rug underneath her being pulled, but there's this voice in her head screaming to just give him a chance. And so she decided to just do it.

"Well I can't stay long, because I have to work." she said finally before turning and rushing into the house, missing Oliver's smile that seemed to widen.

Katie soon regretted accepting Oliver's invitation the moment she found herself dressed and looking in front of a mirror. She thought she had the whole gussying up for formal event down, but she now realized that she was still nervous about the gussying up for Oliver Queen.

"I don't want to rush you, but we're going to be late!" Oliver called from the other side of the door. The truth was Katie was ready, had been for quite a while now. She was currently held up in Oliver's room, sitting on the edge of his bed biting her finger nail nervously.

"Why are you nervous?" she whispered with a shake of her head as she stood to her feet. She glanced over to the mirror and once again smoothed out the soft material of the pink dress she'd chosen for the night. It was actually pretty, nothing fancy. Just a dress, that stopped at her knees. She once again ran a hand over her straight hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. There was once again a knock at the door. "Hold your shit!" she took another deep breath to calm herself, but it wasn't working. Katie just shook her head and walked over to the door. "I can't do this, just go without me."

"I'm coming in."

"You don't have to-" before she could even continue her protests, the door was pushing open and Oliver was walking in. "-do that."

"Wow." were the first words out of Oliver's mouth. He should say more, he thinks, and he will when words come back him. Right now he just lets his eyes roam over her, until he meets her eyes and sees that she's nervous. "You're beautiful." those were better first words, he thought. She looks down to her dress, more to hide the pink flush of her cheeks. He walks over to her and holds out his arm to her. "Shall we?" Katie looks to him for a moment, and he doesn't know it, but she's trying to figure out if this moment was real. After everything that has happened between her and Oliver, it still surprises her sometimes when the things she's always wanted to happen, just happen. She interlocks her arm with his, grabbing her purse on the way out. His eyes look over to her as they walk down the hall, and she can feel them, but she doesn't turn. If she does, she's positive she will push him into one of the many rooms of the Queen fortress and have her way with him.

"Stop looking at me please." she says nudging his side.

"I think that may be the first impossible request tonight." Oliver says and Katie just shakes her head.

"Still a dork Liver."

"But I'm your dork." he says, a smile tugging at her lips. She knows it's happening in that moment. He's pulling her back in and she thinks she ready to let him.

During the ride to QC, Oliver and Katie sat at a bit of a distance, quietly in the backseat. Katie kept her eyes out the window, but she could feel his eyes glance over to her ever so often. Katie doesn't know why a random thought passes through her head, but it does and she just has to ask. So when the car finally stopped in front of the building

"I want to ask you something." Katie says suddenly turning to Oliver who looks at her surprised at the sudden words. "And it may be a little heavy for this charity friend outing we're doing."

"Oh-kay." Oliver says with a nod.

"Why don't I give you guys a minute." John says before getting out of the car, giving the pair some privacy.

"Go ahead."

"We never talked about Laurel and that night Tommy-" it was very strange to say the man's name and it was at this moment that she realized she hadn't said Tommy's name since his funeral. She felt an array emotions suddenly, so when she looked over to Oliver she just shook her head. "You know what, never mind." she turned back to look out the window.

"I was scared." Oliver replied and Katie turned to him. "I had just found out that we possibly had the location of Malcolm's device, and there was this possibility in the air that we could stop it and I thought that if I could do it then I would've succeeded in what my father wanted to accomplish. My mission so to speak would be complete." a smile pricked his lips. "And I thought in that case I could finally be just Oliver Queen, who would I want to spend my life with."

"Laurel." Katie said with a shake of her head as she turned away.

"No, I ended up outside your house." Oliver replied, but Katie didn't turn back to him. "And I imagined this life with you and I couldn't-" he let out a deep breath. "I kept coming up with these dumb excuses for why it wouldn't work and why I should leave. I told myself that a life with you wouldn't make sense."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Katie says reaching for the door handle, but Oliver grabs her hand to stop her. "Why am I here Oliver?" she turns back to him. "Why am I here and Laurel isn't? She makes sense, right?"

"I thought so, but then after I realized something. I realized that my life has never made sense. I thought it did. I thought I was living the dream, but then I was marooned on this island, and my life changed forever. I was so hell bent on finding what made sense when I should've been looking for what felt right and nothing in my life ever felt more right then you." his tightens his grasp around her hand, wanting...no needing her to really believe every word he's saying right now. "What happened that night was a mistake, one I'm one hundred percent positive will not happen again. I know what I want, and it's what I've wanted probably ever since the day I met you." Katie turned away, biting the corner of her lip and Oliver knew she was thinking over his words, deciding if she could believe them or not. "I want you and I’m willing to spend as much time as you need proving that."

_"Damn,"_ Katie thought as she turned to him. She was pretty sure she was going to kiss him now, probably a whole lot more if she were really honest with herself. She felt herself move closer to him, when a knock on the window stopped her. Oliver let out a low growl before rolling down his window to see John.

"Sorry, you're going to be late." John says pointing to his watch. Oliver simply nodded before rolling up the window and turning back to Katie.

"We should go inside, we're already late." Katie says and she doesn't miss that disappointment that passes over his face before he nods and pushes open the door. They really were late and it seemed Oliver didn't really notice until they were riding the elevator up, looking at his watch. 

"I'm sorry." Katie says looking over to him and he just turns to her and shakes his head with a slight smile.

"Well at least you get to make a dramatic entrance." John says from his spot behind the pair.

"It's fine. I'm just-" he looks back down to his watch. "-lucky Oliver Queen has a reputation for showing up late." John and Katie share a look before turning back to the man.

"Is Oliver Queen here now with us?" Katie asks and Oliver turns an annoyed glare to her.

"It really weirds us out to no end the way you refer to yourself in the third person like that." John adds and Oliver turns a look on him just as his phone vibrates in his pocket. He quickly pulls it out and sees a familiar number.

"It's Felicity." he says before bringing the phone to his ear as they step off the elevator. "Tell me." John and Katie stand off to the side and watch how his entire body tensed up, and his shoulders seemed to square.

"He has to leave." Katie whispers just as Oliver pulls the phone from his ear and turns to them.

"There's another truck." Oliver says.

"You have to leave now if you want to catch Chien." Katie says and Oliver nods, his eyes glancing back to the people waiting for his arrival. She looks back following his eyes and sighs. "I will handle that." she turns back to him. "You will help this city more if you leave." he takes a step toward her fully prepared to kiss her, but he stops himself. He knows they're not there yet and he won't push so he gives her a nod before he and John walk over to the elevator, but he stops and goes back to her.

"Stay here, until I find Chien and stop her, don't leave the building without me." Oliver says and Katie looks hesitant to make such a promise when she's supposed to head back to work in a couple of hours. "Please."

"Fine, I will." Oliver nods before turning and disappearing back onto the elevator. Katie turned back to the crowd and had to close her eyes and take deep breath as she stood up straight. "You are the daughter of Jacob Robins, you can talk in front of a crowd of assholes." Katie opened her eyes and walked into the party and her eyes scanned over all the people. "Aw, hell."

"Where's Oliver?" a voice said from beside her and Katie turned with an annoyed look planted on her face.

"Hi Laurel," Katie replies turning back to the crowd trying to psych herself out. "He's not coming."

"What?" Laurel asks. "Blood's about to get on that podium and crucify him." Katie's eyes lifted to see the Alderman already headed to the podium and without another word she rushed to try to beat him. They ended up at the podium together, the Alderman looking quite confused at Katie's appearance. Katie simply placed a hand over the microphone.

"Why do I get the feeling you're coming to Oliver's rescue once again." Sebastian asks and Katie just shakes her head.

"Oliver was called away for a family emergency and asked for me to take his place here."

"That wasn't the point. This was supposed to be Oliver taking responsibility for his family's part in the destruction of the Glades, if he doesn't think that's important-"

"He does think it's important, he just-" Katie tried to think of a way to justify Oliver's absence without the truth, which was really difficult.

"Just not important enough to actually show up for his city." the Alderman replied reaching up and plucking Katie's hand from the microphone. He opened his mouth about to speak, but Katie reached up and placed her hand over it once again, this time moving to stand close to the man's side and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Oliver Queen is just the son of a woman who was a part of something horrible. Moira Queen is just a woman who was manipulated into committing a crime. Malcolm Merlyn orchestrated the entire thing. Want to know what's true about every last statement I just said? None of it helps the Glades recover. It helps your political career to claim that you're a man of the people by demonizing the Queens, but it doesn't actually do anything."

"I didn't know you were the president of Oliver Queen's fan club doctor?"

"No, I'm just a good friend, something I'm sure you don't have a lot of." Katie replied removing her hand from the podium and stalking off. She could hear the beginning of the Alderman's speech as she left and she could already tell this was going to be another hit to the Queen name.

Katie ended up in Oliver's empty office sitting on a very comfortable couch. The entire floor was empty, so she was surrounded by silence. Her eyes went to the desk and couldn't even picture Oliver sitting behind it. Despite what his parents wanted, Oliver had no desire to run the family business. Whenever she would ask him what he wanted to do, he never had an answer, but he knew being the CEO of QC definitely wasn't it.

A tired yawn escapes Katie's lips and she does the one thing her body has been screaming at her to do for a long time. She lays back on the couch and stares up to the ceiling for a few moments, before finally closing her eyes.

_Katie found it very strange that she was allowed to sit outside. For the longest she'd been restricted to the inside of Ra's fortress, and whenever she moved about, there was always a couple members of the league who moved with her. Recently though her movements aren't being watched and she’s allowed to move freely and she can't help but wonder why. Katie glanced out to large body of water that flowed in front of her. _

_"Beautiful isn't it?" a voice said from behind her, but Katie didn't turn because she knew who it was. "My father used to bring me here when I was younger." Katie didn't say anything. Since learning who her once no named captor really is, and who her father is, she restricts any unnecessary contact. "Why don't you run? No one's watching you any more, it would be so easy I would guess." _

_"Because it wouldn't be easy." Katie replies not even turning to the woman. "I would run, you would follow, and since I have no idea where I am, how far I am from anything. Running would be a challenge I'm not sure I'd be able to beat." she turns to the woman with a smile. "Not yet anyways." and with that she stands to her feet. "Nice talk Nyssa." _

When Katie opens her eyes, she's hit with the bright rays of the sun hitting her face. She groans, turning away and suddenly noticing the jacket that's covering her. When she sits up, she now sees Oliver sitting behind his desk dressed comfortably in a t shirt and jeans.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked too peaceful, and I didn't have it in my heart to disturb you." Katie looked back out to the window when a sudden realization hit her. "I already called, told them you were sick. " she turned back to him with a look of relief.

"You saved my good name and yet I was unable to stop Blood from throwing yours to the wolves." Katie says lying back on the couch.

"It's not your fault, I made a choice. One I wouldn't change." Oliver replied. "I'm just going to have to find a way to redeem Oliver Queen." he heard her snort and he shook his head. "I do that a lot don't I?"

"Did you get her?" Katie asks.

"Yeah, she's in the custody of SCPD now."

"And the truck?"

"Returned safely to Glades Memorial Hospital." Oliver replies and he can't see her face, but he know she's smiling. He stands to his feet and walks over to sit on end of the couch, placing her feet in his lap. "I was curious." Katie lifted her eyes to him. "About this flash, and Chien and what the hell it's all about and so I asked her. " he felt Katie stiffen at the statement, and so he rested a hand on her ankle and felt her relax under his touch. "I asked how she got it in the first place."

"She wouldn't answer that." Katie says with a shake of her head.

"She actually seemed happy to." Oliver replied and Katie lifted her head to meet his eyes. "She said your father gave it to her." Katie stared at him for a moment, trying to decide if that's something she could believe. And after learning so much about her father, she knew it was something she couldn't not consider as a possibility. Katie sits up from the couch, before reaching on the floor and picking up her purse. Oliver watches her closely as she seems to dig into the small purse before pulling out something. When she unfolds it, he sees that it's an envelope. It's the envelope. "That's-" he'd forgotten all about that envelope they discovered hidden in the back of Jacob's safe that's addressed to his father. Katie sits the envelope down on the table and they both just look at it for a moment.

"Open it." Katie whispers. Oliver looks over to her for moment before reaching out for the envelope. He tears it open quickly, before unfolding the letter inside. Katie closes her eyes unable to look at it as she waits for Oliver to read it. "What does it say?" Oliver doesn't say anything at first and the anticipation starts to get to her. Katie opens her eyes and looks to Oliver, whose eyes are glued to letter in his hands. She inches over to see it as well.

_Dear Robert, _

_The plan is set. They will be ready._

_-J.R._

Oliver and Katie's eyes meet once again, the confusion written on both their faces after reading the cryptic words.

"This letter is dated-"

"The day you and your father left on your trip." Katie's eyes went back to the letter. "Same day my dad was taken to the hospital for his stroke."

"What do you think it means?" Oliver asks and neither seems to know where to begin for an answer.


	4. Visitors of The Past

**Chapter 4**

**Visitors of the Past**

_"Running away will never make you free."_

_-Kenny Loggins_

* * *

Quiet is rare. It borderlines on suspicious in Katie's opinion. Katie stood at the nurses station that looked out to the ER waiting room that only held a hand full of people. Half of them were the familiar faces of some of the homeless residents displaced by the explosions who came in just to have a roof over their heads.

"Weird isn't it?" Ethan said appearing beside her and lying his head on her shoulder. "Just a couple of weeks ago this place was a mad house, now it's practically a ghost town."

"I guess that's what happens when you have the necessary tools to treat people and get them well enough to go home." Katie replied when she feels the man's hand slide across her back before settling around her waist. "I see you weren't paying attention during that sexual harassment seminar yesterday."

"Actually I did. Gave me lots of ideas." he said looking over to her and wiggling his eyebrows.

"How about this for an idea-" Katie grabs the man's hand and bends his fingers back eliciting a yelp of pain from the man. "If you touch me inappropriately again, I will make sure you're no longer able to pee standing up." when she released his hand, the man scurried to the other side of the counter.

"Not cool!" he says holding his sore fingers. "But I still love you girl." Katie jumped at him, and he quickly rushed away. She couldn't help but laugh at the retreating man. She once again turned back to the quiet waiting room, and just shook her head.

Her eyes went to the sliding doors as they opened, spotting Rebecca.

"You're here, which means I can go." Katie says with a small smile.

"Slow night?"

"Actually yes, and I would like to go before that changes." Katie says pulling the stethoscope from her neck and stretching a bit. "I'm going to go home, curl up on the couch and enjoying my day off tomorrow."

"That sounds like fun, but first I need you to come with me." Rebecca says grabbing Katie's hand and pulling her toward the exit.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You have a surprise." Rebecca says a bright smile on her face as she pulls Katie outside. Katie stands there for a moment unsure if she's really seeing what she's seeing at the moment.

"Is that-"

"A clown? Yes it is." Rebecca says as the man decked out in the full clown gear, orange hair and floppy shoes and all, walked over to her.

"Dr. Katherine Robins?" he asked and Katie didn't have any words, so she just nodded. "Alright." the clown turns and walks over to a boom box and a cardboard mat was set up. He pressed the play button and everything after that was pretty much a clown break dancing.

"Who the hell sent you a break dancing clown?" Rebecca asks unable to stop the fit of laughter that the sight was causing.

"Liver." Katie says a smile tugging at her lips as she slips her phone from her pocket.

Oliver was lounging back in his chair after a long day in the office, his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. When his phone rang, a smile came to his lips before he looked down to see the expected number. He was about to answer when Isabel walked into his office, much to his annoyance.

"Ms. Rochev, could this wait, I've been waiting on this call." Oliver says and yet the woman walks over and sits in the chair across from him sitting a file on his desk.

"Sorry Oliver, but since I'm forced to have you sign off on deals I make, you will not make me wait." the woman clicks a pen before sliding it over. Oliver looked down to his phone that suddenly stopped ringing.

_"Hi, this is Oliver, I'm sorry that I'm not answering, just leave your name and number and I promise to get back in touch with you." _

Katie frowned slightly when the call just went to voice mail. But she figures the CEO of a billion dollar company probably doesn't have a lot of time for chatting.

"Hi, it's me. I am currently witnessing a clown break dancing in our parking lot. I thought this was the part where you asked me a certain question again, but maybe I was wrong. Ok, I guess I will talk to you later."

Katie slipped the phone back into her pocket and continued to watch the show. When it was over she tried to tip him, but he was told to refuse all payments from her.

"Seriously who sent you a break dancing clown?" Rebecca asked again as she walked with Katie to the locker room. Katie still just shook her head. "It was Oliver Queen wasn't it?" Katie stopped and turned to the woman. "Are you two-wait, I thought you and Bruce Wayne had a thing?"

"Becks, go to work and stop the gossip about my love life because it's not as interesting as everyone here seems to think." Katie replied before going to collect her things.

Per her usual routine, Katie tossed her hood over her head and journeyed toward the foundry through the dark streets of the Glades. She'd only walked a block when she realized that she was being followed.

"I don't carry a lot of cash on me if that's what you're after!" she called, not even breaking her stride. Suddenly footsteps quicken from behind her, but before the person can attack her, she slips to the side falling to the ground to miss them. Without hesitation, Katie jumps to her feet, just in time to see a fist coming at her, but she grabs the person’s wrists before sending a kick into their stomach causing them to stumble back. It was this moment that Katie got a good look at her attacker. Blonde hair, black leather suit, mask. This was the other vigilante that had suddenly popped up in Starling. Oliver had come in contact with her a couple of days prior when he went to try again to convince Laurel to stop her vendetta against him. It was pointless, the room filled with officers, all their guns aimed at him, until some sort of sonic device distracted the officers with an ear busting sound that allowed him to escape.

"Not bad." came her modulated voice.

"Bitch, that was fantastic." Katie counters, dropping her bag to the ground and tossing her hood from her head. "You're the new player in town, huh? I guess blondes really do have more fun?" the woman ran at Katie to attack once again. Katie tossed a punch that the woman caught, before twisting Katie's arm behind her back and shoving her into a nearby alley. A pained grunt escaped Katie's lips when she hit the wet concrete, but she heard the footsteps behind her. She flipped over on her back, in time to see the woman's foot about to slam into her. Katie rolled out of the way before any contact was made before jumping back to her feet. "And here I was hoping you were actually good."

"Is there a such thing anymore." came the woman's response before she ran up to Katie, throwing another punch and kick that Katie dodged. It was the last punch that Katie caught the woman's arm before slamming her elbow into the vigilante's side, a hiss of pain escaping her lips. With the woman's arm pinned behind her back, Katie slammed her against the closest brick wall before reaching up and taking the mask from her face. She dropped the mask to the ground before spinning the woman around and finally laying eyes on the source of her current troubles.

"Are you kidding me right now?!" she yelled in the woman face. "Why are you here?" Katie released the woman, her heart hammering in her chest as she slowly backs away, her eyes scanning the area. "Where are they?"

"I came alone."

Katie's dark eyes drop to the woman before stalking over to her and grabbing the front of her suit and slamming her back against the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing here Sara?!"

The moment Isabel left his office, Oliver quickly grabbed his phone just about to dial Katie's number when Felicity walked in.

"Sorry about that, she no longer stops and asks if it's alright if she comes in."

"It's fine, she just wanted me to sign some contracts." Oliver replied practically gripping his phone in his hands. "You could probably head home. You've been working hard and after the whole Mathis thing I think a early night off would be good."

"Really, because I don't mind-"

"It's fine, just go!" Oliver says his impatience coming to the surface. " I mean if you want. Just do what you want."

"You sent the clown, didn't you?" Felicity asks with a bright smile walking further in. "Did she like it?"

"I don't know, I missed her call when Isabel came in." Oliver says glancing down to his phone. "I was just about to call her back."

"Oh, right." Felicity says backing out of the office. "I guess I should leave you to it. Night."

"Goodnight Felicity." Oliver called watching the woman head back to her desk.

Felicity gathers her things, and stuffs them in her bag when she hears upcoming footsteps. She lets out a sigh, not even bothering to look up to see who it is.

"Whatever it is, please tell me it can wait until tomorr-" she lifted her head and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Oh."

"Good to see you again Felicity."

Felicity seemed to be stuck on silent mode which didn't happen often. When words finally came back to her, there was only one thing she could say.

"Jackass." she replied suddenly and immediately regretted saying that out loud. "I mean Bruce!"

"I've gone by both." Bruce replied turning his eyes to see Oliver. "I need to talk to him." Felicity tears her eyes from the man to Oliver who has his phone pressed to his ear.

"Give him a minute." Felicity says turning back to him. "He's been waiting for this moment, and before you go in there and dump whatever it is you're about to dump on him, just let him have this moment." Bruce just silently nods.

_"...but maybe I was wrong. Ok, I guess I will talk to you later." _Oliver's smile drops the moment he realizes he had a chance to once again ask her on that date, but was thwarted by Rochev. He lets out a groan before dialing the familiar number and bringing it to his ear. It rings for a while before the voice mail kicks in.

_"Hi, I mean hello you've reached Katie...I mean Dr. Robins, I'm unable to answer the phone right now because, well reasons, but I will call you back soon, or later I guess, uh-"_ there's a short pause_. "Yeah, so leave a message." _

Oliver tries not to overreact when she misses the call. Mostly because she's told him not to overreact when she doesn't answer. She has a job now, one where she may not be available whenever he wants to hear her voice. It does make him slightly nervous because he believed he planned the whole thing perfectly. The clown was to come after her shift, and if she saw it then it means that she should be headed home at the moment. He tries again, in hopes that maybe she just didn't hear her phone ringing before, but he once again only gets the voice mail. The door to his office opens but he doesn't lift his head.

"Felicity, seriously, go home." he says about to dial Katie's number again.

"Oliver," a voice speaks that's definitely not Felicity's. Oliver lifts his head to see Bruce standing in his office and for some reason beyond his control, he stands to his feet and walks around his desk seemingly ready to attack. He stops himself, because in reality he has no reason. The only thing he has is knowing that Katie told him to leave Starling, and for some reason he can only believe she did that because the man standing in front of him did something unforgivable.

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asks, his voice taking on a tone usually taken when he's wearing his hood.

"I need to know where Robins is?" Bruce asks seemingly unbothered by the man's stance. "Right now."

"I was under the impression that she didn't want to see you anymore." Oliver says, taking another step forward.

"At the moment that doesn't matter. What does is her location, right now."

"And why would you even think I would give it to you. She doesn't want to see you and-"

"I don't care what she wants!" Bruce says his fist clenched at his side. "I don't think you understand and I don't have time to explain it to you, but Robins could be in danger, so I need you to tell me where she is."

"What do you mean danger?"

Before Bruce could answer, Felicity rushed into Oliver's office, her eyes taking on that look he's come to realize means she has bad news.

"Alright, so I'm not sure if we should be freaking out right now." Felicity says glancing over to Bruce before turning to Oliver. "When Bruce showed up I kind of assumed it was about Katie and so I tried her cell and there was no answer. But she's developed this routine, if she's working late, she stops by the foundry just to check in, so I called John who was going to meet her there. He's there, she's not. So then-"

"Felicity!" Oliver snapped impatiently really not needing the long version of this story.

"I can't find her." Felicity said finally. "The GPS in her phone has gone of the grid, she's not at work. They said she left about an hour ago, and she's not at home." Oliver didn't say anything for a moment, before turning his eyes back to Bruce. Bruce simply shakes his head before turning and heading for the door, only for Oliver to rush up behind him.

"Hey, wait!" Oliver says about to grab the man, when Felicity does possibly the stupidest thing she could do in this situation, and steps in front of him to stop him. "Felicity move!"

"Just wait!" Felicity says trying to prevent the impending fight she knew was going to happen. She quickly turns around. "Do not walk out of that door Bruce!" against his better judgment, Bruce stops and turns to her. "You can't come here and tell us you think Katie's in danger and then not tell us why. She's missing and if you know something-"

"I don't know anything. All I have is a hand full of coincidences and until one of them turns in to fact, then I'm not saying anything." Bruce says before turning to Oliver. "I can't. I promised her." he looks back to Felicity. "Do your thing Felicity and try to find her. I'm going to go out and look for her."

"And I'm coming with you." Oliver says walking around his desk and grabbing his jacket.

"No offense Oliver, but I don't think-"

"I don't care what you think Bruce!" Oliver practically growls walking back over to him. "This is my city and she is my-" he stops because the term friend is just not the word he would use. He doesn't know what word to insert there, but he feels at this point they're beyond that label. "She's a part of my team, so if you're roaming around my city looking for her, then I'm coming with you."

_The nervousness dancing underneath her skin felt as if, little by little, it was eating away at her. Each day passed and she didn't know if that would be the day the demon would make her and her friend fight until one of them were dead. Bruce told her to trust him, but each day came and gone and he still hadn't told her of a plan to get out of there. They trained, and her fears were happening because with each session, she was noting Bruce's weaknesses. A part of her didn't want this fight to happen, but another part of her knew that if it did, then she needed to be prepared. _

_Bruce noticed her nervousness and suggested instead of their usual training, they try something a little more calm. That's how they end up on one of the many rooms of the fortress, sitting cross legged in front of an altar lined with candles. _

_"I don't think I'm doing this right." Katie muttered cracking open one eye before looking over to Bruce. "I'm not feeling enlightened at all." _

_"You have to clear your mind Robins." Bruce says, his eyes still closed. _

_"That's easier said than done." Katie says turning back to the candles, her eyes scanning over to flickering of the tiny flames. "What are we going to do Bruce?" _

_"I told you-" _

_"I know what you told me!" Katie snapped angrily standing to her feet. "But we're still here and this dark cloud of death is still hovering above our head every day just waiting." Bruce opened his eyes and turned to the woman. "Something needs to happen." _

_"And it will, but you have to trust me." Bruce replied standing to his feet as well. "These walls are not easy to escape. We have to be smart and we have to-" Bruce heard the footsteps before they entered the room. Both he and Katie turned to the door as a woman walked inside, neither expected to see. _

_"Sara?" Katie says taking a step forward, but stopping. She's learning all too quickly that familiar faces aren't always a good thing. _

_"Katie?" Sara says walking over, a wide smile on her face. "I can't-" she shakes her head before throwing her arms around her in a tight hug. "You have no idea how good it is to see a familiar face." Katie hesitates for a moment before returning the hug, still slightly suspicious which she was sure Bruce could tell from the look she sent him. _

_"Sara what are you doing here?" _

_"She is my guest." a new voice announces. Sara pulls from the hug and they all turn to the door once again, this time to see only Nyssa. "I thought seeing some familiar faces may help Sara adjust to life here." Sara turned to Katie and the women just silently stare for a moment. The last Katie heard of this woman was that she was on the yacht with Oliver and his father before it disappeared. But now Sara was here, and a flicker of hope ignited in Katie at the thought that maybe Oliver was too. Katie took a slight step closer. _

_"Oliver is he-" Sara just shook her head quickly before she could finish the question. It was strange, because Katie had mourned the loss of her friend, cried for so long and yet in this moment there was still a stab of pain in her heart when she realized he just wasn't coming back. Sara reached forward and took Katie's hand. _

_"But we are. We're here. That has to mean something, right?" Sara asked and Katie found herself afraid of the answer to that question._

Katie stared into the eyes of a woman she felt she hadn't seen in ages. There are an array of emotions inside of her right now, but the one poking her underneath her skin was most definitely fear.

"Why did you attack me?" Katie asked suspicion in her voice.

"I was just seeing if you'd gotten rusty in your time away from the league." Sara replied stretching her now sore neck realizing that attacking was definitely not a good idea.

"Sara, what are you doing here?" Katie said a little calmer than before.

"I'm here the same reason you are." Sara replied."I wanted to come home. I needed to come home and to see my family."

"How are you even here?"

"I ran." two words caused Katie's heart beat to quicken. She releases the woman, turning her back to her with a shake of her head. "Katie-"

"You do not run from him!" Katie snaps angrily turning back to her. "You vowed your loyalty to him. You gave your life to him. There is only one way you leave and-" she growls angrily once again turning from the woman. "Who did he send?"

"Al-Owal." Sara replies and Katie turns to her with wide eyes. It was at this very moment, that both women noticed the distinctive sound of a sword being unsheathed.

"Sara-" Katie says turning to the darkness and seeing nothing but knows he's there. "Run!"

"I'm not leaving-"

"Yes you are." Katie says not even glancing over her shoulder. "Go now!" Sara hesitated for a moment before dropping to pick up her mask before quickly running off further down the alley. Katie stood up a little straighter when the figure moved out of the darkness, his sword held firmly, pointed at her. "It has been a long time Al."

"No truer words have ever been spoken Nura." the assassin replied his footsteps coming to stop. Katie winced slightly at the name she wishes to never hear. "How have you found yourself on that end of my blade?"

"Well I'm not letting you take her." Katie states confidently. "Not everyone wants to be a part of your fucked up league of murderers." a chuckle escapes his throat at such a statement.

"And once upon time your ties to that league were never stronger." Al-Owal says taking another step forward, his sword meeting the light of the moon. "You shall not get in my way for if you do-"

"I think it's too late for that." Katie says before probably doing the most stupid thing she could in this situation. She was standing there unarmed in front of a trained assassin and yet she kicked up her leg in a round house kick, strong enough to knock the sword from his hand. If the move startled him, he didn't let it show, not that she expected him to. Instead he pulled back his arm with a clenched fist that he threw forward, but Katie quickly dodged. There was no break, no breath in between. After each move came another and another. Katie found herself trying to be quicker than her opponent which she knew was impossible. He was the first and if she really admitted it to herself, then she would say he was the best.

So when his fist strikes her in her stomach, and a pained grunt pours out of her she knows not to expect mercy. He throws her into the nearest brick wall with a force that doesn't even allow her to just jump back up to her feet. She falls to the ground on her hands and knees, pain moving across her entire body as she tries to catch her breath. The sound of metal meets her ears and when she looks up it doesn't surprise her to see the sword in his hand as he inches closer and closer to her. Katie begins crawling back trying to place as much distance between her and the assassin in front of her, but her back is blocked by a wall. Soon he's standing in front of her, his sword hovering right above her head.

"Do you know what is funny?" he asks, slightly out of breath as well. "You're holding back. I'm here, and your life is on the line and yet you're not giving it your all. Almost as if you want me to kill you." Katie slides up the wall to her feet, her eyes moving from the sword the man holding it, before he reaches up with his free hand to remove his hood to reveal his face. A smile is planted on his lips that causes something in Katie to snap and before she could think or go over the pros and cons to her next move, she tosses a kick to his stomach which causes him to stumble back. She takes a step forward about to send another, when the assassin in a move too quick for her eyes, spins the blade before stabbing it through her chest.

Katie found the moments following very strange. She didn't scream, or cry. Actually sound never even made it from her lips as her eyes looked down to the blade as he slipped it from it's place in her chest. Her hand quickly shot up to stop the blood that seemed to be pouring out of her, before she looks up to the eyes of the man who looks at her seemingly confused. Katie turns away from him, only able to take a single step before gravity pulls her to the ground. She lays there on the cold, wet, cemented ground, surrounded by darkness and yet she's not afraid...at least that's the mantra playing in her head at the moment.

Oliver's eyes dance back and forth over the dark city that passes him, in hopes that he'll see her. He won't let it show, but the ramming of his heart in his chest, and his sweaty palms reveal the truth. His eyes travel over to Bruce whose eyes move over the street as well.

"Are you sure this is her usual route?" Bruce asks offhandedly, not even sparing the man a glance.

"I told you, I'm sure." Oliver says with a shake of his head. "There's way too many places she could be right now and I feel like we could be driving right by her. Stop the car." he glances over to Bruce who mutters something under his breath, but complies. Oliver doesn't say anything to the man before stepping out of the expensive car, and slamming the door behind him.

Oliver felt better, actually moving at his own pace, able to look down dark streets, and into the eyes of the people he passed. He didn't know where Katie was, but for some reason his gut was telling him that she was close.

His legs feel like they are ready to fall off after walking so long, but he doesn't plan on stopping. He's about to turn around and head back to the hospital when he catches sight of a man standing, rifling through a brown messenger bag.

"Hey!" Oliver calls and the man lifts his head, his eyes widening before turning to run. The archer sees the impending chase before it happens and quickens his pace to a full speed run catching the man before he can get to far. Oliver grabs to front of the man's dingy shirt and slams him against a nearby parked car, before reaching down to grab the bag. He sees the hospital ID badge clipped to the strap, his heart lurching at Katie's picture. The man in his grasp squirms to get free, but Oliver lifts him slightly only to slam him against the car once again. "Where did you get this bag?"

"I just-I was-" the man stammers in fear as his eyes are forced to stare into the dark eyes of the stranger. "I was walking and I uh, just found it on the street."

"You're lying!" Oliver growls angrily not willing to believe that this lead will get him nowhere. "Where is she!"

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about!" the man says now shaking with fear. "I found it right there!" he points a finger and Oliver follows his eyes to the spot, but it's the dark alley that catches his eyes. Oliver finally releases the man who takes no time to turn and high tail it out of there.

When Oliver ventures into the dark alley, he suddenly feels his insides twisting at the smell of blood that assaults his nostrils.

"C'mon, wake up." a voice silently pleads in the darkness and Oliver quickens his step. He steps further into the darkness until he finds a patch of light only possible from the moonlight that peeks from above the buildings around him. He doesn't expect to see her. The other vigilante who has assisted him on more than one occasion, and yet he still has yet to learn her name. She jumps to her feet as if ready to fight, but the moment her eyes meet Oliver's, her features softens.

"Where-" Oliver's voice stops the moment his eyes spot the figure lying on the ground behind her. He takes a couple of step forward, pushing the masked woman out of his way, before kneeling beside the woman who couldn't be lying motionless on the ground. His eyes trail to growing blood stain on her blue scrubs, and he places a hand over it to slow the bleeding. With his free hand, Oliver slides his fingers across her neck searching for a pulse. He finds one. It's weak, but it's there. "What did you do?" Sara stood a chill prickling down her spine at the man's tone. It was unfamiliar, and yet recognizably serious.

"I didn't-" were the only words that pass through her lips before Oliver jumps to his feet, grabs her arms and slams her hard against a nearby wall. "You have to believe me, I didn't do this."

"Why should I believe you?!" he asks angrily wanting nothing more than to hurt something right now. She jerks her arm from his grasp before reaching up to pull the mask from her face. The moment she does, Oliver's eyes widen at the face of the woman he thought was dead.

"Because I wouldn't hurt her Oliver." Sara Lance. Oliver didn't know how this was possible, and if this situation were different, and time was something he could afford to waste focusing on this, he would, but he looks down to the blood on his hand before spinning around to the woman lying on the ground. "She needs help, a hospital-"

"The nearest hospital is Glades Memorial." Oliver says stripping off his jacket and pulling his shirt from over his head before balling it up and pressing it against Katie's chest. "Too many questions are going to come up that she doesn't need now. Things are good there for her." Oliver pushes slight pressure against the shirt before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone and dialing Bruce's number. The moment he hears Bruce answer he doesn't even give him a chance to speak. "I found her, get to the alley between sixth and Howard, now."

Oliver ended the call before stuffing the phone back into his pocket, then dropping his forehead to Katie. Sara stood off to the side, staring as the man seemed to be whispering something she couldn't hear, but she doesn't think she's supposed to. The words coming out of his mouth were meant only for the woman lying on that ground, the woman whose hand he's gripping for dear life. Her eyes lift to the end of the alley at the sound of screeching tires. Soon someone's running toward them, and it isn't until he reaches the light does she see him.

Bruce comes to a sliding halt when his eyes meets Sara. She takes a step toward him, but he holds a hand to stop her before turning to Oliver.

"We have to move." Bruce says and without wasting another moment, Oliver hikes Katie into his arms and they all run to the car.

Time seemed to move quickly after that moment. They arrived at the foundry, Oliver cleaned and stitched up Katie's wound. When everything was done, Oliver stood beside the metal table Katie laid, her eyes still closed. His only solace came from seeing the subtle rise and fall of her chest telling him that she was still with him. John and Felicity stood near the computers, but Oliver's eyes lifted to the combat mat where Bruce and Sara stood in a conversation of whispers. Both looked worried, that much he could tell from where he was standing.

His eyes went back to Katie, his eyes traveling to the bandage that covered her wound. It was non life threatening, the opposite side of her heart. Whoever did this didn't want to kill her, just hurt her and he couldn't help but think the pair across the room knew why.

Oliver's suspicions were too strong, and the anger growing inside of him didn't seem to be lessening and so he released Katie's hand and walked around the table a move both Felicity and John noticed, which is why they both stood to their feet and moved in as well.

Sara and Bruce stopped talking when they saw the man walking toward them, the look of anger hard to miss. Oliver's eyes turned to Sara first, finding he had more questions for her than anyone else.

"How are you here?!" Sara dropped her head and Oliver took a step forward, only for Bruce to step in front of him.

"You need to calm down."

"What about this situation is supposed to make me calm?!" Oliver asked his voice boarding on a growl. "Look at-" he turned back with a pointed finger to Katie, finding the sight of her lying on a metal table, with a hole in her chest a little too much to handle. "Look at her." he turns back to Bruce. "Someone is going to talk, now!" his eyes went from Bruce to Sara, not really caring who went first. "Who did this to her?!"

"His name is Al-Owal," Sara finally says raising a hand to push Bruce out of the way. "He is a member of a group who calls themselves the League of Assassins."

"League of Assassins?" John says. "I thought they were an urban legend." he looks over to Oliver, whose cold glare is fixed on the woman he assumed was dead because of him. "I heard about them in Afghanistan from a tribal leader. He claimed there was an ancient sect of assassins, deadly warriors that killed and vanished like ghosts. Thought he was smoking what he was selling."

"What does this have to do with Katie?"

"It doesn't," Sara says quickly and Bruce looks over to her. "It does not concern her."

"You don't know that." Bruce mutters pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes I do." Sara grits through her teeth before turning back to Oliver who stares in confusion at the exchange. "He's after me."

"Why?"

"Because she's one of them!" Bruce says angrily feeling this line of questioning is pointless. "You want to know the truth Oliver? The truth is Sara was found by the league, taken in, trained, she swore her allegiance to them and then she ran." Bruce turns to Sara who refuses his gaze. "The thing is, you don't run from the league. There's only one way out and-"

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Sara snaps turning back to him. "Why do you think I ran? Why do you think I had to courage to run?!" she glances over to Katie who lies on that table.

_Sara felt the sharp wind from the bo staff that barely misses her head. After that swing, she's given no time to react before another is tossed her way. She's able to block a couple, but one evades her, and the stick slides under her feet dropping her on her back. _

_"You're thinking." Katie says walking over and holding out a hand to help her to her feet. "You're trying to think of a way to beat me." _

_"I thought winning was the point." Sara says reaching to the floor to pick up her staff. _

_"No, not losing is the point." Katie replies already circling the woman again, spinning the staff in her hands. "Survival is how you not lose. Stop thinking and just react. In combat, your best moves are calculated, but they're also unplanned." Katie swings her staff only for Sara to meet her with her own to block her. "When you stop trying to anticipate my moves, you will inevitably anticipate every move I make without ever realizing it. It's called instinct, and that's how you survive." Katie was about to swing her staff once again, but the doors behind them pushed open and both women turned to see Bruce walk in before closing the doors behind him. He walks over to both women, gesturing for them to move in closer. _

_"I think I've found a way to get out of here." Bruce says and both women stare in confusion. _

_"Out of here?" Sara asks and both Katie and Bruce turn to her. "You two are leaving?" _

_"Not everyone was brought here of their free will Sara." Katie says with a shake of her head before turning to Bruce. "What's the plan?" _

_"I can't be a part of this." Sara says taking a step back. "Nyssa found me, saved me and now the league has taken me in." _

_"Sara these people are not your friends or your family. They're murderers, they-" _

_"Saved my life and turning my back on them is not something I can do." Sara says with a shake of her head. She stares between Bruce and Katie. "If you go, I will not say anything, but I can't be a part of this." with that Sara turns and flees the room leaving the two. _

"I thought they were a people of honor." she turns back to Oliver who still looks at her with distrust. "After the freighter, a member of the league rescued me; Took me in and brought me to Nanda Parbatt. They remade me into what I am. And I swore them my allegiance."

"That's where you've been the past four years. That's where you learned to fight. You're one of them." They were all statements, no questions because Oliver now understood completely. Sara could do nothing but nod in affirmation.

"She told me to run." Sara says once again looking over to the woman who's unconscious because of her.

"Why would you leave her there alone!"

"Because I know no one who can fight the way she can." Sara replies her voice cracking with emotion. "If anyone was going to leave a fight with Al-Owal alive, it would be her."

"She's not dead right now only because he didn't want her dead!" Oliver snaps once again pointing back to Katie. "He had the chance, the perfect opportunity and yet he chooses to wound her instead of kill her. Where can I find him?"

"Oliver, you're not going after this guy." Bruce says, and the anger that washes over the archer's face turns to him. "You want to yell and scream how this is your city and how she is yours, but the truth will remain that this guy is beyond you."

"And what do you know about him?" Oliver asks, another question he'd been wondering. "How do you know about any of this? Sara and the League? Are you one of them? Is that why she asked you to leave, because she found out the truth about you?"

_"Do you wish to die?" _

_It was a question that sent every emotion inside of Katie into overdrive. She didn't dare show it, knowing that revealing too much emotion was a sure fire way to fail any test the demon could be administering right now. _

_She sits on the floor, her body bloody and bruised from an intense training session with the league. There isn't an once of energy left inside of her to even stand to her feet, and so she sits as the man towers above her, his hands clasped behind his back. _

_"I find it is a simple question. Do you wish to die?" _

_"Today, this moment, no." Katie replies glaring up to the man. "A couple of days ago, when I was grabbed in my sleep, blindfolded and beaten until I fought back. That day I wanted to die." The demon steps forward, reaches a hand around her neck and lifts her to her feet. She doesn't fight him, hasn't worked up the courage to even attempt to strike him and so she lets him strangle her. _

_"What is the lesson?" he asks bringing his face closer to hers. _

_"The desire to die-" Katie lets out through the crushing of her wind pipe. "Should never go beyond a desire. Survival is and shall always be my guide through life." a smile pricks his lips before he releases her, letting her drop to the floor in a fit of coughing. _

_"And survive you shall Nura." _

When Katie's eyes snap open, the dream...memory is still fresh, still playing on the edge of her mind. Soon after the events in the alley flood her and she turns her head to see a case filled with arrows.

"Oliver--" she tries to sit up, but the moment she does pain pulsates through her entire body, but none of it compares to the pain that sits in her chest. She bites her lip to keep from crying out in pain, but a stray tear she can't seem to hold in, falls down her cheek.

"...why she asked you to leave, because she found out the truth about you?" Katie drops her head back to the table and turns her head where she sees the group standing.

"Oliver." she tries once again, her voice not as strong as she wishes, but he hears her. Oliver stops his line of questioning at the sound of the small voice that calls his name. He rushes back to her side, grabbing her hand with one hand before placing his other on her cheek. For just a few moments, they just stare at each other. For some reason beyond their comprehension, it calms them, makes them feel safe. Oliver breaks the contact first, only for his lips to drop to her lips in a kiss so soft it was electrifying. Soon, Katie's hand slides to the back of his head, and returns the kiss. It's funny how a kiss can be more than a kiss. Take this one for example, it was more than Oliver and Katie's lips touching in a pleasurable way. In this kiss fears were being alleviated, nervousness being washed away, and needs were being fulfilled. They were being watched, both knew and yet it didn't seem to hinder the moment. Oliver pulled from the kiss, but let his forehead drop to rest against hers'.

"You have no idea how long I have been waiting to do that?"

"Probably ever since you sent a break dancing clown to my job." Katie whispered back, only for Oliver to smile and once again press his lips against hers. After a few moments, the clearing of someone's throat seemed to break the moment and bring them back to reality. Oliver lifts his head to see them all standing there staring.

"Can we have a minute?"

"No." Katie answers, once again attempting to sit up from the table. This time she expects the pain, and grits her teeth through it.

"Easy, you shouldn't-"

"I know. I should be in a hospital, where this-" she points to the bandage on her shoulder "-would've been done by an actual professional and I would be high on very good narcotics instead of waiting on some island herb to kick in." she turns back to the group, her eyes going to Sara and Bruce. "But I'm here and we have a problem."

"Al Owal." Oliver says and Katie looks over to him surprised before turning back to Sara and Bruce.

"How much have you told him?"

"Not enough." Oliver answers instead. Katie doesn't turn to him, at this point she's not sure what to say. There's only one course of action here and it's the one thing she thought she had more time to prepare for. She doesn't. At this point the truth is the only thing she can give him. She finally turns to Oliver and nods.

"I think it's time I told you some of my story."

And so she did. It wasn't the whole story, because even after all this time, she doesn't think she could go over everything that happened to her. She didn't mention ARGUS, for the simple fact, that she still didn't have answers to a lot of the questions that she knows they'll have. They all stare at her for a moment in silence after hearing the story of how after being kidnapped by extremists she was somehow acquired by the League where she was trained. She not so subtly, hinted that training entailed more than just fighting and that each time she failed to understand a lesson there were consequences.

For some reason their eyes on her makes her nervous. It's the looks of pity, sadness and suspicion that she never wanted. After a few moments, she drops her eyes and shakes her head before jumping from the table to her feet.

"Al-Owal is dangerous, cunning and he's smart." Katie says before looking over to Bruce and Sara before turning to Oliver who stood beside Felicity and John. "He doesn't have to be your problem, we could-"

"He came into my city and he hurt you. This guy is already my problem." Oliver says before looking over to Bruce and Sara. "You're going to tell Felicity everything you know about this guy that could help her find him."

"No, I'm not." Bruce says before turning to Katie. "We need to talk." Katie glanced over to him with a shake of her head.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Katie muttered before looking down to her clothes which now consisted of a black camisole and her blue scrub plants. "I need to get home to change." she turns to Oliver. "Will you take me?" he nods placing a hand on the small of her back, before leading her to the door.

It wasn't until Katie stepped outside and saw the sun shining down on her that it was now morning.

"I must have been out for a while." she says glancing over to Oliver who turns to her with that familiar look of anxiety in his eyes. He was scared for her. "But I'm here now."

"Yeah, you are." Oliver replied placing a kiss to her forehead before leading her to his car.

At home, Katie does her best to not focus on the pain that she has to admit isn't hurting as bad as it once did. She was really starting to get used to these weird herbs Oliver has stored away. After a shower, Katie stood in front of the mirror, her eyes on the stitched up wound, and she's immediately back to that moment when the sword stabbed her right in the chest. She didn't cry or scream because in that moment she didn't feel it. She closes her eyes and his words filter into her ears.

_"Pain is an emotion and a warrior controls every emotion they exude." _

Letting out a shaky breath, Katie turns and steps from her bathroom to her her conjoining bedroom, not expecting to see Oliver sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I guess returning to the island may have caused you to forget the purpose of doors." Katie says tightening the towel that is tied around her.

"I was just making sure you were alright." He says looking over to the stitches. "That had to hurt."

"It did." Katie says walking around to her closet. "But when you expect it, you can choose to not feel it." she stops when she realizes what she just said. Those weren't her words, they were the words of the demon and they just came out of her without a second thought. That worried her. She still carries him and his sadistic lessons with her. "That's not-" she turns to see Oliver is standing right behind her and she has to drop her eyes from his. It was this moment that she realizes that it's not the intensity that he holds behind his eyes that she can't stand to see, it's the darkness she fears he will be able to see behind her own. Once she dropped her eyes, she suddenly noticed the suit he was wearing. "You have that meeting with your mother and her lawyer today."

"Yeah, but if you-"

"No, no." Katie says with shake of her head not about to let him think she needs him more then he needs to be with his mother. "I'm fine. I'm going to get dressed and then I will wait for you and we can go back to the foundry to see if Felicity has found anything.

"You sure?"

"I'm positive." she replied lifting her eyes to meet his. Oliver stares for a moment as if trying to gather from her eyes if she really is alright. The wall she surrounds herself with is up, and she hides what she really feeling from him. He places his hands gently on the side of her neck before didn't his head to meet her lips. He felt her hands slide up to his chest and he couldn't help but want to pull her closer, but knew with the stitches that probably wasn't a good idea. When their lips finally parted, they didn't pull away from each other immediately. They hovered inches away from each other, their noses touch as Oliver's thumb trails over her lip.

"When this is over, we should probably talk about this." Katie whispers with closed eyes. "Whatever this is?"

"That is a conversation I look forward to having." Oliver says with a smile before pulling back afraid if he doesn't, he really will be late with the meeting with his mother. "And I should leave now, because the fact that you're only wearing a towel right now is starting to have effects."

"Effects?" Katie asks taking a step toward him with a mischievous smile. "Like what?"

"How about I tell you later." Oliver says with a nod. He stands there for a moment before finally turning and leaving her room.

Katie tells herself that she shouldn't dig herself deeper into the hole that is Oliver Queen, that just like all the other times, she will end up burned, but it's hard. She's in love with him and that flicker of hope that they can just...be, is still burning and she's just not ready to let it go. When she hears the door close, she hurries to her desk and flips open her laptop.

"Let's find out why you smelled like sulfur Al." Katie says typing away.

Sara emerged from the bathroom in spare clothes that Katie had left in the foundry in case of an emergency. She neatly folded her suit before walking over to Bruce who wasn't too far.

"What are we going to do?" Sara asked when Bruce turned to her. "Oliver is no match for Al-Owal. He will get himself killed."

"I know that." Bruce mutters glancing over to Felicity who was analyzing dirt that was on Katie's clothes they figured belonged to the assassin. "You know that." he turns back to Sara. "Guess who else knows that?"

"You think she'd go after him alone?"

"I know she would, which is why we are not going to let her." Bruce says before looking over to Felicity and John who weren't paying attention to them at the moment. "C'mon." Sara nods before grabbing her suit and quietly following Bruce out the door.

"You think this aldicarb, could help lead to this league guy." John asks walking over to Felicity

"I think it's a start." Felicity replies standing to her feet about to go over to her computer when she suddenly stops and lets her eyes scan over the basement.

"What?" John asks following her gaze.

"Uh, where did everybody go?"

"We should probably call Oliver."

Sulfur. It's the smell that anyone who takes advanced Chemistry would be familiar with. It's also the smell that Katie sniffed on Al-Owal during their fight. There was something else familiar about the scent, that Katie didn't realize until she happened upon an article about the closing of Starling's aldicarb plant three years ago. She immediately remembers coming home one day and the air smelling really weird after a fumigation. The plant has been abandoned for three years and she can't help but think it would make the perfect hiding spot for league assassin.

That's how Katie finds herself standing in front of her basement door about to enter the unlock code. She hesitates for a moment, debating if going solo on this is the smart move. She'd already went up again Owal once and he beat her. Could she really do this again? Her finger finds the keys of the lock pad outside the door, but she doesn't get a chance to press anything before the doorbell rings.

When Katie walked over to the door and pulled it open, she let out an annoyed sigh at the sight of both Bruce and Sara gracing her door.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you're about to do something stupid." Bruce says storming into the house without an invitation.

"And this my fight, and I'm not letting you fight it for me." Sara adds walking in as well. Katie swings the door closed before turning to see the pair standing in front of her. "You're not doing this alone."

"And there's no use in arguing about this because it's happening." Bruce says. Katie crosses her arms over her chest and looks between the two people who probably know how this fight is going to go. Al Owal is highly trained and three on one are odds she's not hating at the moment.

"Fine." she finally says before turning and stalking back down to the basement door. Bruce and Sara, unsure what else to do, follow after her.

In the basement, Katie stood letting her eyes trail over the weapons that have only left these confines for a murder investigation. She'd never actually used them against another person, actually she's afraid to. These weapons, each and everyone of them are the keys to the darkness inside of her.

"This room looks familiar." Sara whispers her eyes looking over the weapons as well. "Weapons are the tools to..."

"Survival." they all quote the demon's words at the same time.

"So, what's your poison Robins?" Bruce asked with a tilted head as he watched the woman. She was a woman who wasn't tied down to just one weapon. If a battle was impending then she usually relied on her gut to choose the right one. Whatever she chose, she made it work. So as her eyes slid across the wall of choices he couldn't help but stare in curiosity. Her eyes stopped on a pair of sais and without another words she walked over and plucked them from the wall.

"Take anything you need. We're leaving at sun down." Katie says before climbing up the stairs.

Katie didn't own anything that made her look menacing or intimidating in any way which she wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. She didn't have a green hood, or a bat suit and she doesn't even think she could pull off the whole leather suit as good as Sara. What she did have was a suit she buried at the bottom of her suit case upon arriving in Starling. She should've thrown it out, or burned it, threw it over a cliff and yet for some strange reason she can't seem to figure out, she folded it neatly and placed it in her suitcase.

It was a uniform of a league she refused to be a part of. But there was something about the clothing, about the dark colored hood, that she tossed over her head, it did something. It altered her mood, like it made her someone else...maybe something else. Her fingers slid down the front going over the hint of golden embellishments he made specifically for her.

So as she stood there staring in a mirror, she didn't see Twinkie or Katherine...there staring back at her was Nura The warrior created by the demon. The sun was gone, and there was no more waiting and so Katie emerged from her room and headed downstairs where she was met not with Bruce and Sara, but the Batman and the Canary. They both turned to her, and looked her over.

"Not bad." Canary says walking over to examine her closer. "But you're missing something." the woman reaches behind her and pulls out a black domino mask that mirrored the one over her eyes. She handed it to Katie who looked down to it for a moment before pulling down the facial covering of hood and slipping on the mask instead. "Much better." Katie turned to the woman and then to Bruce.

"We should go." Katie says turning and heading toward the back door. "This ends tonight."

After Oliver's not so good meeting with his mother and her lawyer, he really just needed a minute to just breathe. For some reason it seemed like life threw punches at him from every direction. When he went to that prison, he went in knowing that there was an assassin who was in his city he knew nothing about. When he walked out he was forced to accept that his mother was going to accept the death penalty if it happened to be her sentence. She was hiding something and he wished he knew what it was, but at the moment he had a phone filled with missed calls from Felicity and John. He figured they had a lead of this league guy and so he decided to head over to the foundry before going back to Katie's.

When he walked down the stairs, the first thing he noticed was the two faces missing. His eyes darkened when he realized that the one thing he told them not to do, they were apparently doing. When Felicity and John turned, the darkened look in Oliver's eyes told them that they didn't need to say much.

"When did they leave?" Oliver asked already unbuttoning the jacket of his suit and pulling it off.

"A couple of hours ago." Felicity replied waving the man over. "Before I discovered where our assassin could be hiding." Oliver walked over to Felicity's computer where she'd processed the dirt from the attack. She told Oliver of the aldicarb , and the plant that was the greatest possible hide out for the man. Oliver simply nodded before heading over to the display case to retrieve his hood. "That's not it." the man stopped loosening his tie and turned back to the woman. "Well I called Katie to see if she'd heard anything about Bruce and Sara and I didn't get an answer." Oliver's first thought was that maybe this assassin had found where she lived. "I didn't want to freak out, but because of recent events I wanted to make sure things were cool so I accessed the security system of the house-" Felicity typed in a few keys and soon video footage of the back of Katie's house appeared. Oliver stepped closer as they all stood and watched the screen at the sight of Batman, Canary and a third masked face that Oliver didn't need image enhancing to tell him who it was. "This was taken just a half hour ago, if you leave now-" Oliver was turning and rushing over to grab his hood and arrows before heading for the door.

"Is it bad that I kind of want to see that major explosion that he's about to walk into?" Felicity asked and John looked over to her with a quirked brow. "Admit it, you want to see it too."


	5. Light In The Darkness

**Chapter 5**

**Light In The Darkness**

_"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."_

_-Desmond Tutu_

* * *

Darkness...true, pure darkness leaves absolutely no room for light. That is the single reason why giving into the darkness inside was so dangerous. Katie was never taught how to control it, or how to keep it at bay. She was taught to survive, and in surviving every ounce of darkness she had inside of her was for that purpose and that purpose only.

So now, as she stares at the old pesticide factory, she imagines the threat to her survival waiting inside it's four walls. In this situation, Katie was not the person needed. And so she closed her eyes and let out long slow breath as she decided in that moment to give into to the darkness inside of her.

"There's a way inside on the east side of the building. An opening in the skylight. We can get in and we'll have the element of surprise." Sara says walking over to Katie who still had yet to open her eyes. She looks over to Bruce who silently watches the woman between them. "Katie?" no response or acknowledgment comes from the woman.

"Nura," Bruce's gravelly voice says and Katie lifts her head and turns to Sara.

"The element of surprise is only useful when it's possible." Katie turns back to the building. "He probably already knows we're here." and with that woman begins walking toward the factory.

Once inside they all split up, hoping that coming at Al-Owal from all sides would help their chances of beating him. Katie sifts through the shadows above the factory as the sound of clanking metal echoes around her as she looks down to the assassin as he sharpens his sword.

_It's not unusual for Katie to flit in during the many sparing sessions that happened in the league fortress. There wasn't much to occupy her time and so Katie found amusement any way she could. None of them said anything to her as if she weren't even there. One day Katie strolled into one of the sessions and discovering a brutal spar between two of the men. She grimaced as one of the men seemed to dominate the battle, punching and kicking far too quickly for his opponent to catch up. Katie watched his final move, he wrapped his arm around the already beaten opponent's neck and held it there until his eyes fluttered closed before letting him fall to the floor with a thud. Katie's first instinct was to go in there and make sure the man was ok, but the moment her feet moved a hand caught her arm stopping her. She turned to see Nyssa with a quirked brow. _

_"Let me go, I need to-" _

_"You know at some point you're going to have to accept that there is no Dr. Katherine Robins here." Nyssa said before releasing her hand and walking away. Katie turned back just in time to see two other men drag the unconscious man out of the room. Her eyes drift to the supposed winner who stood surrounded by his league brothers. _

_"Who's next?" he asked spinning around to eye each man. "I think I still have a little fight in me." the grin on his face did something to her, made her angry. She doesn't know why, but his attitude, his arrogance was something she suddenly wanted to knock down a peg or two. Once again Katie took a single step before her arm was caught. This time when she turned around, she was met with the disapproving gaze of Bruce. _

_"You're definitely not ready for that fight." he muttered before pulling her with him. Katie looked back to see the man still searching for his next opponent, a grin on his face. _

_"Who is he?" _

_"He's the first." Bruce replies looking back to her. "No one beats him." _

Katie knew he was aware of their presence, and so she decided that skulking was definitely unnecessary at this point. Her foot only took one step before she heard something above her. Katie lifted her head just in time to see a familiar green hood wearing vigilante silently repelling down beside her. The moment his feet touch the floor, he turned to her and though he didn't say anything, the dark look in his eyes spoke volumes. Without a word, Oliver reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow, before placing it against his bow. Katie should stop him, because she knows that a surprise arrow won't be the thing to takes Al-Owal out, but she doesn't stop him figuring he needs to see for himself just how good this guy is. Oliver released the arrow, but just as it was about to hit the man, Owal turned and caught it in his hand.

"Arrows." the man says as he begins walking from his spot. "Such an ineffective projectile. I find it strange anyone who still fears them." he tosses the arrow aside.

"I'll show you why!" Oliver's modulated voice echoed around them. "If you don't leave Sara Lance alone. This is your only warning." Katie looked over to Oliver and nudged her head to the side as she heard the footsteps getting closer. There was still a chance they could surprise the man with the fact that there was more than one. Oliver looked uncertain, but nodded before Katie quietly turned and went in search of a place to hide.

"And it would be effective, were you to pose a threat to me. You barely defeated Malcolm Merlyn at nearly the cost of your own life. What hope would you have against the man who trained him?" Katie stopped moving when she heard something move above her. It was a subtle rush of wind as if someone had moved around her.

"Helps that I didn't come alone." Oliver said, and Katie was about to turn and reveal herself, but there standing at the end of the metal catwalk, was another league assassin. He stood unmoving as he stared back at her, and for a moment she found herself too unable to move. She knew that Ra's would send more, that even though Al-Owal was good, there still would be a team needed just in case.

"Regardless, you're coming back with us." Katie heard, finally focusing on the moment. Her hands finally pull out her sais, and grips them tightly in her hands.

"There's more!" she yelled before running toward the assassin.

There's this thing that happens in battle. Everything around you seems to disappear and the only thing left is the person whose trying to take your life. This fight Katie currently found herself engaged was all too familiar. There was always something different about fighting with one of Ra’s assassins then the other fights she'd been in. They moved faster and each move had purpose and Katie found that if she were to beat them then she had to move even quicker and anticipate every move. For some reason she didn't remember this with her earlier fight with Al-Owal. And so as fists and kicks were thrown she dodged them as best as she could. Soon he took his sword from it's sheath and their fight was filled with the clanking metal of their weapons striking.

The assassin's sword came whipping down toward her, but Katie crossed her sais to block it before throwing a kick to the man's stomach, knocking him to the floor. She took the man's fall as a chance to get away, so she turned and jumped off the sky walk to the floor and right in front of the man they'd come here for.

"He would love to see you like this Nura." Al-Owal said as the pair began circling one another.

"Too bad that's never going to happen." Katie replied before holding up her sais, about to take a step forward, when an arrow being shot behind her made it to her ears. Suddenly an arm wraps around her waist and she's jetting off into the air.

"Batman!" Oliver calls as they are moving. Bruce kicks the league assassin he'd been currently fighting, before shooting his own grapple gun to the ceiling. Sara runs over as he holds an arm out for her. She jumps into his arms before they both shoot up as well.

When they arrived back to the foundry, Katie stormed inside not a word passing her lips as she speeds past Felicity and John to the bathroom, making sure it slams loudly behind her.

"I'm going to assume tonight didn't go well?" John asked looking between the three costumed heroes who looked utterly exhausted.

"You could say that." Bruce said pulling the cowl from his head before looking over to Sara. "Your back-" he dipped his head to see the bleeding scar behind her.

"I'm fine." She replied, but he still grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the medical supplies.

"Sure you are."

"You're bleeding." Felicity said pointing to Oliver who simply looked down to his hood, to see the dark colored fresh stain. He brought his fingers up and felt the sticky, warm blood on his fingers.

"It's not mine." he says dropping his bow on nearby table as he storms to the bathroom. He grabs the handle, and turns only to find it locked. "You're hurt."

Katie ignored the man as she stood staring at the blood that caked around her torn stitches. She felt it the moment it happened, but there was no time to focus on the pain. When she walked into the bathroom, she peeled off her hood and dropped her weapons to the floor. She brought her finger to the stitches. The pain wasn't as bad as she thought or maybe the adrenaline still running through her veins weren't allowing her to even feel it yet.

"Open the door." Katie turned her eyes to the door. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine." she replied her voice probably not as strong as it usually is. She turns back to the mirror and looks at the face staring back at her that's totally unrecognizable.

"Open the door." he said once again, his voice low and practically pleading with her to comply. Katie let out a deep sigh before turning and walking over to the door. When she pulled it open, she was met with his eyes that looked down to her arm and the blood seeping through the stitches.

"It's fine, I just need to redo the stitches and-" Katie tried to move around him, but Oliver moved as well to block her path. Her eyes once again met his to see the seriousness he was was holding there and she just knew this was when he wanted to have the conversation she'd been dreading since he appeared in the factory. "Now?"

"Now." Oliver said with a nod. Katie just shook her head before turning and walking back into the bathroom, Oliver right behind her closing the door behind them. "What were you thinking?" Katie's back was to him as she chose to ignore his question. "Katie-"

"You want to know what I was thinking?!" Katie asked the frustration and anger practically bubbling out of her at this point. "I was thinking that this life that I left behind when I ran away, that haunts my dreams and makes me afraid to sleep, was standing right there in front of me. I was thinking that life, that hell I was trapped in found me and was going to swallow me up again." Oliver took a step toward her, bringing his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. "I was thinking that my hell had found me and was going to get to you and I couldn't allow that to happen." her eyes had to look away from his eyes because she felt so much emotion rising in her chest that she was afraid she was going to break down right here. "That can't happen." she placed her hands above his chest and felt the rhythm of his heart underneath her fingers.

"Look at me." Oliver said with a strong voice, but Katie couldn't find the courage to look at him after revealing so many of the fears she has tangled inside of herself. "Please, just look at me." Katie lifts her eyes to meet his and he doesn't say anything for a moment. Just stares silently, but there's something about it that reassures her, comforts her. "I won't let it take you." there was so much certainty behind those words that Katie was just inclined to believe them. Oliver dipped his head to meet her lips in a kiss, like their others pulled them from this moment and into another that was all about them. There was a promise in this kiss, one that backed up Oliver's words and he needed her to believe them. Their lips parted, but they rested their foreheads together with their eyes closed trying to catch their breath.

"Right now he wants Sara." Katie whispers finding it hard to even think of pulling away from Oliver now, but she knew that the world was still spinning outside of this room. "He's going to get to her through her family." still they didn't move and Katie opened her eyes. "We have to go."

"I know, but this moment is always hard for me." Oliver replied opening his eyes as well. "Because I want to be in this moment more than I want to be in the one that's waiting for us outside that door." Katie leaned forward pressing her lips against his and he could do nothing but kiss her back. Soon he pressed her back against the bathroom door as his hands slid slowly down her waist, gripping her side and pulling her as close to him as possible.

"Wait, wait," Katie says pulling back, which doesn't get her far. "We can't do this now."

"Yeah." Oliver says with a nod, as his hands seem to reluctantly release the grasp he has on her. "Right. You're right." he meets her eyes and something inside of him pulls him back to her, his hands going back to her waist as his lips captures hers once again.

"We so have a problem, don't we?" she mumbled against his lips finding it hard to pull away this time. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as his hands seemed to grab her hips and pull her off the ground allowing her legs to wrap around his waist. "Oliver-" she says unsure if it's warning him to stop or begging him to continue as his lips trail kisses along her neck and chest, the pain long forgotten.

It's a knock at the door that tears through the room and stops them before things could go any further which was both a relief and slightly frustrating.

"Is everything alright in there?" came Felicity's small voice. Oliver and Katie both pulled back, looking at each other, both trying to catch their breath.

"Uh, yeah. We'll be out in a minute." Oliver said before loosening his grasp around Katie's waist and letting her back to her feet.

"We seriously need to stop doing this until we talk about what this is between us." Katie says pushing the hair from her face as she moved aside to open the door. When they walked out, she ignored the looks from both John and Felicity and just walked over to where Bruce seemed to be stitching up a wound to Sara's back. "Aren't you full of surprises?" Katie muttered as she watched how he carefully closed the stitches.

"Well I had a good teacher." Bruce says glancing over to her with a slight smile that she didn't return. Katie turned to Sara who didn't even seem to flinch at the pain.

"They're going to go after your family." Katie says glancing from her to the others. "We need to protect them."

"I can try to warn Detective Lance." Felicity says taking a step forward. "He knows I'm working with the Arrow, so me coming to him with a story about assassins trying to kill him should be believable, right?" Katie simply nodded before turning to Oliver.

"You should take Laurel." The words caused in involuntary twinge of jealously inside of Katie, but at the moment she'd just have to get over. The league would not bat an eye with using Sara's family to get her back.

"Katie-"

"You're the only one she'd even let close enough to protect her properly." Katie says hating that she has to be the bigger person, but she knows she doesn't have a choice. "It's Laurel. You have to go." He knew what was going through her head and he hated it. He hated that whenever Laurel's name came up, she'd instantly remember the moment he broke her heart and he's afraid it's going to be the reason she keeps him from that second chance. "We will stay here and keep an eye on Sara."

"I need eyes on me now?" Sara asks hissing as she stands up to put her shirt back on after Bruce is finished.

"You need several kid." Bruce says running a hand over his eyes. "I'm going to go back out there, see if I can track them."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Felicity asked and the man turned to her and nodded.

"It's a lot dangerous, but I wear this." Bruce says gesturing to the black armored suit he's wearing. "I sort of welcome it." he looks back over to the woman who stares with obvious worry.

"Still," Oliver says and the man glances over to him. "Be careful and if you find something call me."

"You know that almost sounded like you cared about me." Bruce replied with a crooked smile that only seemed to annoy Oliver even more. "Almost." and with that the man pulled the cowl back over his head.

"I should go too." Felicity said grabbing her jacket and purse and walking along with Bruce out the door. Once they were outside, Bruce stopped and turned to her. "It's still strange to see you like this."

"Strange good?"

"Very good." she replied with a slight smile before placing a hand on his arm. She stared at him for a moment the smile dropping slightly as she averted her eyes. "I've missed you." Bruce could see the deep emotion in her eyes, even in the dim lighting behind the club. "Like really missed you." she looked up to him once again. "What happened?"

"I promised her that she could trust me, and I broke that promise." Bruce looked up to the back door. "I knew she would, knew she held a grudge longer then anyone in this world." he shook his head at the thoughts he'd had ever since he saw the look in Katie's eyes when she heard the truth. He'd had doubts that he'd done the right thing, aligning with ARGUS, but it didn't matter now because the deed was done. "I should go." Bruce turned to leave, but Felicity grabbed his arm.

"Please be careful." Bruce turned to her, before taking a step forward, placing the softest of kisses to her cheek.

"See you soon, Ms. Smoak." he whispered before walking around to his awaiting car.

Once Oliver left, the foundry fell into a very uncomfortable silence. Sara, John and Katie were forced to wait, something none of them were very good at. Sara had went to change, leaving Katie and John to their own devices.

"You know what I don't understand?" John said gaining looks from both women. "Sara ran and now there's a league of assassins after her, you apparently ran and nothing. Why?"

"Sara vowed her allegiance to the league. I didn't. I wasn't there voluntarily, and there was nothing I hated more than that place so there was no way me vowing anything was going to happen." Katie walks over to sit in front of one of Felicity's computer, not touching anything since she still hasn't been properly trained and doesn't want to suffer the wrath of the woman. "That's my guess."

_Katie laid in her cot asleep, when a hand clasped over her mouth. She was about to attack when a familiar voice whispered to her. _

_"It's me." Bruce spoke and Katie turned her eyes to him. "We're doing this now." he removed his hand from her mouth and Katie sat up from the cot. "I'm getting you out of here." _

_"Me?" Katie asked. "Aren't you coming with me?" _

_"This plan can only get one of us out of here, and that's going to be you." _

_"I'm not leaving without you." Katie said standing to her feet. "I can't leave without you." Bruce placed his hands on her arms giving her a gentle squeeze.  
_

_"This isn't the end Robins, we will see each other again." he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him into the dim lit halls. They both moved quickly and quietly keeping their eyes and ears open. "There are catacombs that lead to a tunnel that can get you far enough away from Nanda Parbat to make a run for it. Once inside, you need to go down the second tunnel on your left." they stopped, and pressed their backs against the wall. Bruce looked over to Katie and held up two fingers signaling that there were two oncoming league members. Katie simply nodded and waited for them to arrive. Once they did, their eyes went to Katie and Bruce immediately before Bruce engaged them in a fight. _

_"Robins, go!" he yelled and Katie hesitated for a moment, not wanting to just leave him there. "Go now!" she turned and finally ran down the hall, bursting through doors that indeed lead to catacombs. She reached the center, which placed her in front of four different tunnels. She found the one Bruce directed her to go and was about to run when she heard something from behind her. Katie turned and threw herself to the ground at the sight of an arrow coming right at her. When she jumped back to her feet, Katie found herself surrounded by three of them. _

_"I hope you know I'm going through that tunnel." Katie says letting her eyes scan over the dark clothed man, their dark eyes glaring at her. "One way or the other." Katie prepared herself to fight, but suddenly there was an explosion in the catacombs that knocked them all off of their feet. The room was filled with smoke and Katie coughed as she tried to make out where she was. Finding the correct path in the smog was impossible and so Katie left it to fate and just stood to her feet and ran down the path she hoped lead to her freedom. _

"I thought he was going to come for me." Katie says looking over to John who stood watching her. "I thought about it a lot actually. It's why I can't sleep a lot of time because if I'm not dreaming about the horrible things that I've done or that were done to me, I dream that I will be taken back." she shook her head and turned away from him swallowing the lump in her throat. "But he never did."

"Do you know why you were taken?" John asked and Katie lifted her head but didn't turn to him. She actually expected that question from some one and when no one asked it immediately she assumed she'd get away without having to answer it. She was wrong. The truth was all she had was a story told to her from someone she didn't trust. A story she'd didn't know for certain was true, so when Katie turned in her chair to John she gave him an answer she felt was true.

"No, I don't know why I was taken." she replied just as Sara walked back out to them. The room once again fell into silence until Sara grabbed a chair and slid it in front of Katie. Katie stared at the woman with a quirk brow. "What?"

"A lot has changed in my absence and I knew something weird was going on and then I witnessed that kiss." Sara said simply and Katie rolled her eyes before trying to spin her chair away from the woman, but Sara caught the chair with her foot to stop it. "Oh no you don't."

"Can we really have this conversation?" Katie asked turning back to the woman. "I mean with everything that has happened. You and Oliver, The Gambit, Nanda Parbat, can we really have girl talk about Oliver Queen?"

"It wasn't what you think." Sara replied with a shake of her head. "When he invited me-"

"I can't hear this!" Katie says jumping to her feet and walking across the foundry hoping to place as much distance between her and the woman as possible.

"You probably should stay off that subject." John warns and Sara turns to him. "I think it would be best for everyone."

"I'm not sure." Sara replies looking over to Katie.

The room was once again brought to silence as they waited to hear from someone. Felicity was the first to return and they all walked over to her to see how her meeting with Quentin went.

"Badly." Felicity replied to John's question as she took off her jacket. "He either didn't believe me or didn't take me seriously." she dropped her jacket to her chair and turned to them. "In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have led with the League of Assassins. What do we do now?" The question seemed to push Sara into action. She walked over and began collecting her things.

"What are you doing ,Oliver told you to stay put." John warned but the woman wasn't even listening. "I thought you didn't want your father to know you were still alive."

"Well if she doesn't do this, then he won't be." Katie added looking over to the woman. "You're not going alone."

"I shouldn't have brought you into this in the first place and-"

"But you did. We're in it and if you're going out that door, then I'm coming with you." Katie says before turning to John.

"He's not going to like this and you know it." John says and Katie simply nods.

"I've done a lot of things today Oliver doesn't like, he will get over it." Katie says before grabbing her jacket and following Sara to the stairs.

Katie stands further down the street and stares at the scene of Quentin hugging the daughter he believed to be dead. She couldn't help the twinge of envy as she witnessed the moment she would never have. Her father was gone and the only thing she had left from him was a ton of unanswered questions. When they start moving, Katie follows making sure to keep her distance. They all end up in a diner, where Katie once again watches from a distance.

She can't hear what they're saying, but Katie can tell from the mix of emotions passing the detective's face that Sara's story is definitely not something he expected. Katie always imagined that conversation with her own father. It was a fantasy, one where she comes home and he's not sick any more and she just tells him everything that has happened to her. She would imagine that he'd raise hell and high water to make sure justice was served and ARGUS and Ra's and his league are all destroyed. He was the one Katie dreamed would one day save her and now she wrestles with the possibility that he's the reason she needed saving in the first place.

When the detective and Sara stand to their feet, Katie does the same and follows behind them. At this point she's unsure where they're going. They arrive at the clock tower, a place she figures Sara has been hiding out since her arrival back to Starling. Katie climbs the stairs quietly, only stopping when she's reached the top of the tower, and she hears Sara and Lance's voices once again. She's only there for a few moments before she hears the light sound of creaking wood above her. Katie lifts her head as dust drops to her face.

It was them. Katie reaches into her pocket and pulls out the domino mask Sara had given her and slips it over her face before pulling the hood over of her jacket over her head.

Sara stood staring into the eyes of her father with a slight smile. She would dream of seeing him again after the agony she endured in the last four years.

"I never forgot your voice dad." she said and Quentin couldn't help but smile as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Sweetheart-"

"We're out of time." Sara interrupted sensing that they were no longer alone. She quickly grabbed her staff, and her father drew his gun before turning to the three masked faces that suddenly appeared.

"So, this is where you wanted your father to die?" Al-Owal asked, sword held firmly in hand. "Did you really think we weren't going to find you here?"

"No." Sara said bringing her staff in front of her with both hands. "I knew you would."

"Go!" Al-Owal ordered. His two minions only took a single step before they heard something above them. They all lifted their heads to see someone falling down to toward them. It wasn't until said person jumped on one of the black clothed league minions and punched him hard before jumping to her feet did they realize who it was. "Oh Nura, you're hell bent on getting in on a fight that isn't meant for you."

"Why do I get the feeling that probably won't upset him as much as I wish it would." Katie replied backing away to stand beside Sara trying to keep Lance covered.

"Another friend of yours?" Quentin asked and Sara looked over to Katie and nodded.

"You're unarmed." Sara said turning as the minion jumped back to his feet.

"That's never stopped me before." Katie mutters over to the woman while raising her fists just as the two assassins beside Al-Owal ran to attack. She didn't expect one's foot to get caught in a rope that pulled him up to dangle in midair. "That was actually good." Katie says before running after the second assassin, leaving Al-Owal to Sara. She didn't want to, she so badly wanted to be the one to put him down, but this fight wasn't about her. It was Sara and she had to be the one to end it.

Katie was once again tossed into battle with people far faster and quicker than anyone she's gone up against. The fact that she was unarmed also was a very big draw back. She couldn't get close enough to hit the assassin, who swung his sword each time she tried.

"Maybe you're not as good as you think Nura." The assassin growled just as Katie jumped up and grabbed a support beam before tossing both feet into the man's chest knocking him on his back.

"Maybe so, but I'm definitely better than you." Katie replied just noticing the other assassin had freed himself from the rope and was moving toward Detective Lance who shot bullet after bullet that the man easily dodged. Katie dropped to her feet and picked up the sword of the other assassin before running over to stand in front of the detective.

"If bullets don't work, you think a sword will?" he asked and Katie turned about to say something witty and funny, but seeing as she didn't want the man to know who she was she decided to keep it to herself. She turned back to the assassin, just as his partner ran over to stand beside him. Katie gripped the sword in her hand, and stood a little bit straighter just as a grapple arrow shot through the window and attached to the wall behind them. Suddenly the Arrow ziplined into the tower, dropping beside Katie, his bow and arrow up and at the ready.

"We're really going to have a conversation about this." He muttered over to her, before releasing his arrows at the assassin closest to him which left Katie to take care of the other one. With the sword in her hand, Katie can't help how each strike, each dodge seems so natural. The assassin she's fighting is fast, but she seems to match each move with her own. When he throws a punch, she dodges it before dropping to one knee and pushing the sword into his foot causing a pained scream to escape his throat. The sound doesn't shake her, or bother her in the slightest as she pulls the sword free and places it against his neck. It would be so easy, she thinks.

_"Kill him!" _

The demon's voice orders her even though he's not even here. She can practically hear him telling her that the man on the other end of her sword is a threat to her survival and the only way to survive is to end him.

"Just do it." the assassin says in obvious defeat. "I'm dead either way."

A hand appears on the arm that steadily holds the sword in place. She doesn't turn because she knows it's him and a part of her screams at herself for letting him see her like this.

"You don't have to do this." Oliver says and Katie can't help but want to laugh because that's what she's told herself every time she's found herself in this position. And yet it doesn't change anything "You told me that we have a choice. Nothing takes that choice. Not a hood and not the darkness." The sword in her hand seems heavier than it should, but she doesn't let it go. A part of her is still afraid of the consequences of going against the teachings of the demon. But she realizes that he isn't here and she's no longer his prisoner. So she drops the sword and watch as the assassin slides to the floor in exhaustion.

"Thanks for that." she whispers looking over to Oliver and he simply nods before they turn to see Sara with Al-Owal's neck locked underneath her staff.

"You think because you are the beloved you will be granted your freedom?" Al-Owal asked the air getting harder and harder to get into his lungs.

"There's only one freedom. Let me grant you yours." and with that, the woman jerked her staff snapping his neck before letting him fall to the floor dead. The woman looked over to the other assassin that sat on the floor before storming over and pulling him to his feet and pressing her staff to his neck.

"Sara!" Katie says taking a step forward. "You left the league. You decided to leave it all behind. It's over."

"Not yet it isn't." Sara growled pulling the staff even tighter on the man's neck.

"Sara baby, don't-" Lance said hoping to get through to his daughter, but his daughter wasn't in the room at the moment. The Canary was in her place, and she was angry.

"Tell Ra's al Ghul that my family is off limits. His quarrel is with me." she released the assassin before watching him run, jumping from the window and attaching to the zipline. Sara lifted her eyes to her father who looked at her for a moment as if he didn't know her. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I can't imagine what you must think of me."

Katie and Oliver backed away because they knew what had to happen. They watched as Sara did the one thing she absolutely didn't want to do. She told her father goodbye and made him watch her turn around and leave him once again.

"Keep them safe." Sara says looking over to Katie and Oliver who both silently nod before watching the woman turn around and disappear out the window.

"Detective, she's right." The Arrow says taking a slight step forward. "You have to keep her secret."

"It's already the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How do you live like this?"

That was very good question. One that neither Katie nor Oliver could truly explain. The secrets were hard, but they were necessary.

Sara kept her head down and her hands in her pockets as she walked down the dark streets of the Glades. At this hour the only people on the streets were either the less fortunate, or people just up to no good. So when a car drove slowly beside her, she figured they believed she belonged to the latter of the two options. She didn't turn as she kept walking, hoping they would get the hint.

"Get in the car." came a familiar gravelly voice the caused her to stop and turn. That's when she saw the open door of the bat-mobile before walking over and stepping inside.

"You missed the party." Sara said glancing over to the man.

"Yeah well, I've been there and done that." The Batman says his eyes on the road. She noticed the grip he held on the steering wheel.

"You're worried about her?"

"Of course I'm worried about her!" he snapped glancing over to her. "I saw him. He was on the train when it derailed. No one could've survived that."

"He's the demon, if anyone could, you know it would be him." Sara replied with a shake of her head as she turned to look out the window.

"Then why has there been no retaliation?"

"I don't know. It didn't seem to interest him anymore. He actually seemed pretty impressed with you and your dedication. Said it made you a good student, but it proved that you weren't who he thought you were, whatever that means." Sara turns back to Bruce. "If he hasn't come for her after all this time, then maybe he just let her go. She didn't want to be there and maybe he didn't want her there."

"You didn't see the way he would look at her. He had plans for her, plans that were broken the moment she ran." Bruce looks over to Sara, his eyes seeming even darker behind the mask. "If he's alive then she's still in his sights. He just hasn't made a move yet and that worries me."

"Are you going to protect her?"

"I burned that bridge a long time ago. She doesn't trust me." Bruce said with a shake of his head. He hated the turn of their relationship, and he hates that it's because of him that it's deteriorating. "We're going to have hope the Arrow is up for the job."

"Then he's going to have to know the truth, all of it."

"I know."

After making sure the detective returned home safely, Katie and Oliver returned back to the foundry where they find Felicity and John.

"So that's it?" Felicity asks staring between the two after hearing the story of how Sara killed the man who was determined to take her back to the league. "Everything is good now?"

"No." Katie answered with a shake of her head. "But I think taking down the first will let them know that she's not going back without a fight. It will also let them know that she's not alone."

"So should we talk about that?" John asks pointing to the mask on the nearby table, and they all walk over to look down to it. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know." Oliver says turning to Katie. "Is this something you want to do?" Katie doesn't say anything right away. The thought had crossed her mind, but she never thought anything would come of it. The truth was, she felt more like herself when she wore that mask then anywhere else. For so long she'd been taught to fight to survive, so she wasn't sure if she could be the hero.

"It's so alluring." Katie says picking up the mask and letting her fingers slide across the material. "When I put this on, everything about me, about Katie was just gone and I acted and didn't think." she glanced over to Oliver. "That's what I was taught, but I don't think that it's right." she glanced back down to the mask. "It's easy to lose control when you're no longer you. You're the person who wears the mask." she looks to Oliver and smiles. "I'm not sure if I can do this, but I am willing to learn if you're willing to teach me."

"So I get to tutor you now?" Oliver asked with a slight smirk and Katie couldn't help but smile with a shake of her head. "How the tables have turned Ms. Robins."

"Wow, he just last named her." John said glancing over to Felicity. "I think that's our cue to leave before things get very awkward for us."

"But it's a good kind of awkward." Felicity says with a bright smile before turning to grab her jacket and purse. They all said their goodbyes before Felicity and John left for the night.

Katie and Oliver stood, the metal table separating them just staring at one another. Oliver made the first move, to which Katie held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't do that." she warned and he quirked a brow in confusion. "You should stay on that side of the table and I should be on this one. I think that will prohibit all the other stuff that happens when we come into close proximity to each other. We need to talk."

"Right." Oliver says placing his hands on the table and leaning in slightly. "About us."

"No." Katie says with a shake of her head.

"No?"

"Your mother." Katie replies and Oliver frowns a bit because at the moment, his mother definitely wasn't on his mind. "You're kind of using me as a distraction so you don't have to think about the crap storm that happening with her."

"No, I'm-" Oliver shook his head. "She's not going to fight the death penalty." Oliver met Katie’s eyes and she could see the pain he was trying to keep buried inside of him. "She's not even going to fight it. Not even for us."

"Your mother loves you and your sister probably more than anything in this world."

"Maybe it's not enough."

"Or maybe it is. Love makes us do crazy things sometimes. Look at Sara. She loves her father, but she left to protect him. Maybe your mother wants to protect you and your sister."

"Protect us from what?"

"This trial is going to dig into everything and secrets are going to be out in the open. Maybe she's afraid of how you'll look at her when that happens."

"That's ridiculous, we're going to love her no matter what."

"Tell her that." Katie says with a small smile that Oliver can't help but return.

"Was that all?" Oliver asked and Katie nodded. "Can I come on that side of the table now?" Katie nodded once again before watching Oliver slowly walk around to stand in front of her. "I think we should talk about us now." he inched a bit closer to her, a move that didn't go unnoticed. "Because there was a break dancing clown and I distinctly remembering that as soon as that happened, something else would happen and that something else was you having dinner with me."

"You really want to go out on a date with me Oliver Queen?"

"I really want to go out on a date with you Katherine Robins." Oliver replied once again inching just a little bit closer to her. "I have wanted to go on a date with you for a really long time now, but I was a little scared to ask. So what do you say?" Katie turned away in deep thought and Oliver rolled his eyes with a smile. "Are you going to make me beg?"

"That sounds tempting, but I think I will save that for later." Katie says turning back to him with a smile. "Fine, yes, I will have dinner with you." Oliver smiled widely, before opening his arms to her, but she took a step back. "I think there needs to be some conditions."

"Conditions? Like what?"

"Like, I don't know, stop kissing me until we have defined this catastrophe we are about to embark on. It just feels like we're moving a little fast and I don't want-" she brought her eyes to his and shrugged slightly. "This is it Oliver. If we are going to do this, then you should know that this is it. I can't get my heart broken again by you because I don't think my heart would be able to take it. You wanted a second chance, and I'm willing to give it to you as long as you know that this second chance has to be the last one."

"Do you trust me?" Oliver asks suddenly and Katie sighs with a roll of her eyes and it makes him smile.

"You always ask me this and you already know the answer." Katie says turning back to him. "Fine, at the moment, yes I do trust you."

"Then trust me with your heart, because I promise that I will keep it safe." Oliver inches just a little bit closer to her closing the distance between them. "I want this and I'm not going to mess this up again."

"Are you sure you want to date me?"

"Very sure." Oliver says snaking an arm around her waist.

"I have a very morbid sense of humor."

"I'm use to it, and sure at some point you will make me laugh."

"I have a very dark past that may bite us in the ass at some point in the future."

"Me too." Oliver replies pulling her closer.

"My best friend wears eye make up and shoots arrows at people at night." Katie smiled as she brought her arms around his neck.

"I think that's awesome and it's not make up-"

"You're in denial Oliver, it's make up just accept it and-"

"Shut up, and I'm kissing you now."

He did and she let him because lets be honest, how long was that no kissing rule going to last anyway?


	6. Saving Harbinger

**Chapter 6**

**Saving Harbinger**

_"The past is never where you think you left it." _   
_― Katherine Anne Porter_

* * *

There's something sinister about a man with no shoe laces. It's such a random thought and Katie is very much aware of the fact, but as she stands at the nursing station totally drained from her day, with her head propped up with her hand, she can't help such thoughts from passing through her head.

"I think she's in the twilight zone right now." Ethan says waving a hand in front of Katie's face and watches as she doesn't even flinch. He laughs before looking over to Rebecca. "This is an opportunity that shouldn't be wasted."

"She's warned you about your pranks so I have no doubt that she will murder you." Rebecca replies with a shake of her head. "But if you're feeling lucky-"

" I am feeling lucky Becks." Ethan replies walking around to stand beside Katie. He snags his phone from his pocket and scrolls though the screen before a smile spreads across his lips. "I got it."

"Is there someone I should call, like a next a kin for you?" Rebecca asks, but Ethan simply brings a finger to his lips for her to be quiet as he subtly brings his phone next to Katie's ear. He's just about to press a button to sound a very loud and obnoxious song when his plans are thwarted.

"I wouldn't do that." both Ethan and Rebecca jump out of their skin before turning to see the smiling face of Oliver Queen. "She doesn't like to be startled, her initial reaction is to hit and since you're right there-"

"I wasn't-" Ethan says shaking his head as he slides his phone into the pocket of his scrubs. "We were just going to-"

"We?" Rebecca says before turning to Oliver. "If you want to beat him up, I see nothing." the woman replies before turning to Katie. "Take her home and make sure she sleeps. She's had a long day." the woman gives him a pat on the shoulder before heading out the door.

"So I've noticed you've been hanging around my girl a lot lately." Ethan says walking around the station to stand in front of Oliver. Oliver simply smiled even though everything inside of him wanted to punch this guy and his constant referring to Katie as his girl. "If I were a jealous guy, I'd think you were trying to steal her from me."

"Well it's hard to steal someone that doesn't belong to anyone." Oliver says and Ethan opens his mouth to retort, but he's interrupted.

"Dr. Mills!" a nurse calls from down the hall. "Thirty two is awake." Ethan simply nods before turning back to Oliver.

"Well duty calls, but I guess a rich guy like yourself wouldn't know anything about that, huh?"

"It was nice seeing you again Ethan." Oliver says through a tight smile as he watches the man turn and head down the hall. It's then that Oliver turns back to Katie who seems to be in a bit of a daze. He waves a hand in her face and she doesn't even flinch and he laughs a bit. "You're working entirely way too hard Twinkie." Oliver brings a hand across her cheek, as his fingers slide across her lips. Soon she blinks a couple of times before meeting his eyes. "You back with me?" she stood up straight and looked around, before spotting the clock.

"Crap." she turns back to Oliver whose still smiling at her. "I mean hi." she returned the smile stretching a bit. "So this really is going to be thing now, where you pick me up from work."

"Well for some reason you think it's a good idea to walk down the streets of the Glades alone at night, so yes when I can I am going to meet you or John. At least until you stop being a pain and finally get a car." Katie groaned loudly as she walked from behind the station.

"Are we having this lecture today Liver?" Katie asked as he followed her to the lock room.

"I seriously don't understand the problem. I could get you a car, you could get you car, hell you could buy a couple of cars with drivers if you wanted to, so what's the problem?"

"I just don't want to, ok?" Katie replied turning to him. "So just drop it." she pushed through the doors of the locker room, and Oliver followed her in as he usually did.

"I will figure this out." Oliver replied leaning back against the door as he watches Katie retrieve her jacket from her locker. "I think before this becomes a big thing, we're not training today. I'm taking you home and getting you into bed." Katie stopped what she was doing and looked over to Oliver with a quirked eyebrow who after thinking about what he said felt the need to clarify.

"Well you could at least buy me dinner first." Katie chuckled turning back to the locker to grab her bag.

"I didn't mean—well, I don't—actually I do—" Oliver looked up to Katie who walked over to him with a bright smile. "I walked right into that didn't I?"

"Yeah you did, and I'm fine. I would rather train." she moved to walk around him, but he blocked her. "You're going to be a pain about this, aren't you?"

"Yeah I am. You just worked twelve hours, after working twelve hours yesterday."

"How do you know this?" Katie asked with narrowed eyes.

"I have become very good friends with Rebecca." Oliver replied bringing an arm around her waist and pulling her with him out of the door. "Home, take out, movie, sleep. That is the sum of your night doctor."

"Do I no longer have a say in my life?" Katie asked dropping her head to his shoulder as they walked, before letting out a yawn.

"Not tonight." Oliver replied before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

When they arrive back to Katie's house, Katie headed upstairs, as Oliver headed for the kitchen.

"Do you have a preference?"

"Food!" Katie called back to which Oliver couldn’t help but chuckle. Oliver decided to just order Chinese which was always a favorite. He was about to grab some wine, when his phone suddenly rang. He didn't need to look at it to know who it was, but he did anyway and cringed at the sight of Isabel's number. He'd successfully evaded her all day with Felicity's help, but she'd been calling ever since trying to figure out why he missed a meeting yesterday. He simply let it go to the voice mail, as he did all her other calls, before going to grab the wine.

When Katie finally returned from her shower, she came into the kitchen surprisingly in jeans and a t-shirt.

"What are you wearing?" Oliver asked staring over to her.

"Clothes." Katie says glancing down to her attire.

"Yeah, but not pajamas."

"You're really adamant about getting me in bed Mr. Queen. Are you trying to seduce me?" Oliver grabbed the glasses of wine and walked around the counter to hand her one.

"I would answer that, but I think it would not go along with this taking it slow thing you want to do." Oliver replied with a wink as she took the glass in her hand.

"We should seriously have that date first." Katie replied bringing the glass to her lips.

"Which we will when the the world stops conspiring against us." Oliver replied taking a step forward to bring his lips to hers in a gentle kiss that turned passionate instantly. They'd made plans for this date that both looked forward to but each time something came up with either Katie's schedule, Oliver's QC schedule or his Arrow duties. It really was starting to feel like the world was out to get them. Both sat the glasses in their hands down, finding there were better use of their hands which instantly wrapped around each other when free. Oliver's hand found it's way under the sides of Katie's shirt, and his fingers slid across bare skin, just when his phone once again rang. Katie pulled back and glanced over to the counter to his phone. "Ignore it please." Katie quirked an eye brow before pulling free from Oliver's grasp and walked around the counter to pick up Oliver's phone.

"Who is Devil woman?" Katie asked looking over to Oliver with an amused smile.

"Isabel Rochev." Oliver replies walking along side of her and looking down to the phone as well. "Who knew it would be hard running a company during the day and shooting arrows at bad guys at night?" he took the phone from her hand and sent the call to voice mail. "She wants to yell at me and I could do without that tonight." he placed a hand to Katie's back and she turned in his arms. "I would very much like to enjoy a night with my-"

"With your...?" she asked playfully, placing her hands on his chest. Oliver opened his mouth to speak, when his phone chose that moment to ring again. "Why do I get the feeling that this night will not go as planned because of this devil woman?" Katie picked up his phone and handed it to him."Just get it over with." Oliver let out a groan as he took the phone from her hand and brought it to his ear.

"Isabel, hey-" Katie could practically hear the woman yelling from the phone. Oliver looked at her with narrowed eyes and she couldn't help but give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking around the counter to retrieve her wine glass. "No, I-if you would let me-fine!" Oliver angrily hung up the phone before looking over to Katie. "She wants me to come in to QC."

"Now?" Katie asked glancing over to the wall clock.

"Yeah, so tell me what the benefit of answering that call again was?"

"Oh!" Katie says placing her glass down. "I can be your body guard. I have yet to meet Ms. Rochev and I want to see what makes her so evil."

"You say that now, but then you meet her and she sucks out your soul." Oliver mutters with a shake of his head before meeting the amused smile of Katie's face. "You think this is funny?"

"I do, but I also think you're cute when you get all huff and puff." Katie says and Oliver shook his head. "You're like a little angry puppy."

"Oh, Twinkie, your jokes just get worse with time." Oliver replies walking around and bringing an arm around her as they head for the door. "You get to cancel the take out this time."

"Oh, but Mr. Chow hates me." she groaned dropping her head against his shoulder.

Isabel Rochev was waiting for Oliver in his office, and he could tell from the look on her face that she really was angry.

"Maybe you should wait for me out here?" Oliver suggested to which Katie turned to him in confusion. "Trust me, it's for the best." he placed a kiss to her forehead before walking into his office, the woman starting in on him the moment he walks in.

Katie sits leaning against Felicity's desk watching the whole scene, smiling at the looks Oliver sends her ever so often as the woman just goes on and on. It's a situation she shouldn't be amused by, but the man sitting in that room is so used to being in charge all the time, that seeing him having to play by someone else's rules is pretty funny. She does feel uneasy at one point when both of their eyes look over to her for a second before returning to each other. Her attention is torn from the production in front of her by the clicking of heels and she turns to see the nervous face of Felicity Smoak.

"Hey," Katie says standing from leaning against the woman's desk. "How did you know we were here?"

"I was here when Isabel called and thought I should probably stick around in case things got hairy." she looked over into the office and hears the yelling and frowns. "Well if it's any consolation, I think I'm about to be his best friend right now."

"You have a way to get him out of there?"

"I do." Felicity replies turning to Katie with a nervous smile. "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck Smoaks." Katie muttered before watching the woman nervously walk into the office. Katie watches as Felicity tries to get Oliver's attention, but their yelling doesn't even allow for her to speak.

"Mr. Queen!" Felicity finally yells over the both of them."I'm sorry to interrupt your Grr! Um, I need to talk to you about your plans for this evening. With Mr. Harper?"

"If you'll excuse me." Oliver says standing from his desk and walking straight for the door.

"We have work to do." Isabel says angrily watching the man leave. "It's important."

"So are my evening plans!" Oliver called back to her as he left. Katie walked over to walk with them toward the elevator, glancing back to see the anger wash over Isabel's face. "We really have to work on your excuses." he mutters over to Felicity.

"Who's Mr. Harper?" Katie asks once they step onto the elevator. Both Felicity and Oliver turn to her, before Felicity turns to Oliver with a shake of her head.

"You didn't tell her?"

"I was going to."

"But you didn't and now I'm still waiting on an answer." Katie says looking between Oliver and Felicity. "Who is-wait, Roy's last name is Harper." Oliver turned away from her. "Liver, what the hell have you done?"

Katie found herself standing beside Felicity behind her computers, her foot tapping in anger. Felicity tried to ignore it, but she was nervous as it is, and the foot tapping definitely wasn't helping.

"Could you just stop doing that?" Felicity asked with a tight smile turning to the woman.

"Roy Harper? Really? Out of all the people in Starling, he chooses his sister's boyfriend to be his informant."

"To be fair, Roy had become obsessed with protecting the Glades on his own. This way he feels like he's doing something without actually putting himself in danger."

"But this is dangerous." Katie said with a shake of her head. She knows she's right, and that the rate Roy was going he was going to get himself hurt or even worse, which she made sure to tell him when he would stumble into GMH with injuries he made her promise not to tell Thea about.

"Ugh, I should be there." Katie says leaning over Felicity's shoulder to see the satellite image on the screen.

"Well you haven't slept in more than half a day, so maybe you shouldn't be tackling counterfeiters." Felicity replied and Katie just shook her head. "At some point you're going to have to tell him that you're still having trouble sleeping. That you fill your days with work and the arrow stuff to keep yourself from having to stay home for long."

"At some point isn't today Smoaks." Katie replied staring down to the screen just as Oliver informs them that he's on his way back.

Katie turned when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She stared with a furrowed brow as she looked down to an unknown number. Her curiosity piqued and so she answered the phone and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

_"Doctor,"_ familiar voice spoke, one that caused Katie's jaw to clench.

"I'm hanging up now." Katie replied about to do just that.

_"Wait, this is hard for me, but this call is me asking for your help."_

"That sounded very painful Agent Waller, there's just the issue that I don't give a shit that you have to take into consideration." Katie replied before ending the call and turning to Felicity who stared with a look of both confusion and curiosity.

"That sounded very unpleasant."

"It was." Katie replied slipping her phone back into her pocket before sliding her hands across her face in a effort to wake herself up. "I need coffee. Is there coffee here?"

"If there is I didn't make it." Felicity said turning back to her computers. Katie simply shook her head before deciding to trail up to the bar in hopes of finding something caffeinated. To her pleasure after feeling her way through the dark bar, she happened upon the coffee pot. After preparing her coffee, she sat at the bar with her head resting comfortably on her arms on top of the bar fighting to stay awake. A fight she did not win.

_When you finally escape hell, the one thing you just do not do is stop running. Katie hadn't stopped running since the explosion in the catacombs. Her legs were aching, her lungs on fire desperate for air, but she didn't stop. With every voice in her head telling her to stop, and breathe, there was another telling her just a couple feet further. And so she moved, and kept moving until her will power no longer mattered and her body gave in. That's the only reason she can explain running one minute, to waking up in an unfamiliar bedroom the next. _

_The room was plain, hardwood floor and the smell of cookies in the air. She thought for a second that maybe she was dreaming, so she reached over and pinched herself only to find that she really was here. Waking up in strange places has not bode well for Katie in the past and so this time she doesn't take any chances. She slips out of the bed quietly, glancing down to the t-shirt and flannels pajama pants she was wearing, before the sound of distant voices caught her attention. _

_Her feet padded slowly toward the door, the only sound came from the slight creak of the hardwood floors. There were pictures on the wall of a couple that seemed to be smiling in everyone. Once again the voices tore her attention back to the fact that she's in some random house when the last thing she remembers is escaping Ra's Al Ghul's twisted hell. She found a staircase, and walked down each step carefully trying not to make a sound._

_"That's not how this works." a female voice whispered. _

_"Then how does it work?" a male voice asked and Katie stopped walking because those voices seemed closer than they were before. "You really think we can get her and him in the same room and it won't blow up in our faces. We have no idea who this woman is and-" Katie's foot slipped slighting and a loud creak escaped from the stairs. She cursed under her breath because after that she heard no more voices, just footsteps getting closer. There was a door not too far and so Katie thought she would take her chances and run for it. Her hand only touched the door knob, when she saw someone in the corner of her eye. _

_"Wait!" a woman yelled and despite what everything inside of her was screaming, Katie stopped and turned to the woman. It was the woman from the picture, her dark hair was longer and fell over her shoulders as she stared with a smile. "You're safe." a man appeared beside the woman who smiled, but it looked slightly forced. _

_"Where am I?" Katie asked and the man and woman shared a look before turning back to her. _

_"Hong Kong." the woman replied and Katie looked between the man and woman, both obviously American with slight confusion._

_"How the hell did I get to Hong Kong?" _

Oliver returned to the foundry where he found Felicity sitting behind her computer typing away. He glanced around for a moment before opening his mouth.

"She's upstairs in search of coffee." Felicity answered the question before he could even ask. She looked over her shoulder to him with a smile that made him just shake his head as he walked over to hang up his hood and quiver. "You need to talk to her about the no sleeping thing."

"I tried, but she keeps evading the topic." Oliver says before slipping on a shirt and turning to her. "But I will keep talking to her about it." he gave Felicity a nod before turning and heading for the stairs.

"Liver and Twinkie sitting in a tree-" she sang with a bit of a giggle. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"I work with children!" Oliver called back and she couldn't even try to hold in her laughter. When he finally entered the dark club, he immediately switched on the lights, instantly spotting Katie sound asleep with her head on the bar. He heard a soft noise escape her lips, one that sounded like whimper. Oliver quickened his step, bringing an arm around her waist as he pushes the hair from her face to see her eyes clench tight. "Hey." he dropped his lips against her ear. "You're alright, you're safe." he pressed a kiss to the back of her head and he felt her relax under his touch. He heard a sigh escape her lips and tilted his head to see her eyes opening. When she met his eyes she smile slightly as she sat up, bringing a hand over her eyes. "Nightmare?" she looked over to him and just shook her head.

"I'm fine. It was nothing." she looked over the bar to see the pot of coffee filled and waiting, and so she moved to stand, but the arm Oliver has around her waist kept her in place. So she turned back to him. "Can we drop it?"

"Why won't you tell me what these nightmare are?"

"Because if I don't talk about them then I can successfully keep them isolated in my brain." Katie replied once again trying to move, but he wouldn't budge. "Would you move, I seriously need a cup of coffee right now."

"How long do you think you can keep this up?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away from his intense gaze. "It's obviously effecting you. You need to talk to someone and if you won't talk to me, then maybe-"

"I can't!" she said, the tone in her voice way more aggressive then she wanted. She turned to him with an apologetic look, placing a hand on his arm. "I just can't." with that she pulled herself from his grasp before walking around the bar to pour herself a cup of coffee. "So I figure that since you're back that we caught the bad guys?" she glanced over to him to see that he didn't want to drop the subject, but he did.

"Yes, we did. Bad guys are now in the custody of the SCPD."

"And Roy?" Katie asked and Oliver slightly dropped his head muttering something under his breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that." she moved back around the bar to stand in front of him. "Where is Roy?"

"I said he is also in the custody of the SCPD." Oliver replied only to get a hard fist to the shoulder. "Ow!" he yelped grabbing his arm to sooth the pain. "What was that for? He's fine, Lance found him and he'll spin this as a citizen trying to do good in the city."

"He shouldn't have to spin this because he shouldn't be involved." Katie replied with a shake of her head as she headed around him to the door that lead to the basement.

"I had no choice." Oliver said jumping to his feet to follow her. "It's either I let him in partially or I take the risk of him getting hurt trying to do this on his own. This is why I didn't tell you."

"No you didn't tell me because you didn't want me to hit you." Katie replied nudging him with her shoulder as they walked down the stairs. "And I promise I will do much worse if he gets hurt because of this."

"I didn't know you were close to my sister's boyfriend." Oliver said and Katie rolled her eyes.

"Well you were gone for a year Liver. Your mother is in prison and your sister was on her own. So I was there and so was Roy and so now yes, I am fond of him so you better watch it with him. He has a hot head and this ear to the ground stuff you have him doing will not be enough."

_"_What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you're digging a hole here Mr. Queen and if you're not careful you're going to fall in and take your sister's boyfriend with you." Katie replied glancing around the basement. "Where's John?"

"I don't know, I thought he came here ahead." Oliver said before looking down to his watch. "Maybe he stopped somewhere. We'll give him a little while longer before we worry."

"Well since we're here and we probably won't be going anywhere until John shows up, we might as well-"

"We're not training." Oliver said without hesitation and Katie turned to him with a frown. "You haven't slept in hours and I still can't even figure out how you're conscious right now." Katie simply smiled before taking a sip of her coffee. "I also have no idea how you can drink that awful coffee."

"I've had worse coffee than this." Katie replied with a shrug before walking over to Felicity who was too into the new feed she was watching to pay attention to them. It was the news that everyone was paying attention to lately. It was coverage of the protesting that was happening at STAR Labs because of the potential use of the particle accelerator. They were listening to one of the protesters when they heard the heavy footsteps behind them . John stalked in, going straight for his brief case. _  
_

_"_Where did you go?" Oliver asked taking a slight step forward. "Is everything alright?" there was definite squaring of the man's shoulders and a tenseness in his jaw, but he turned to them and just nodded.

"Yeah, I just need a couple of personal days that's all." John said, and it was the look in his eyes that told them that something was seriously wrong.

"What is it?" Katie asked sitting down her mug and taking a step forward as well.

"Have to help a friend." John replied, for some reason the word friend looked as if it hit him funny. With a slight shake of his head, he returned his gaze back to his friends.

"Who?" Oliver asked.

"Lyla Michaels." The moment the name came out of John's mouth Katie nearly stumbled backwards. She probably would've if the table wasn't behind. After that name was spoken, Katie didn't hear anything else.

_"We found you." the woman said with a slight smile taking another step forward, one that Katie watched warily. "We're archaeologists and we were working at one our sites, th_ _e Song Yuan Dynasty, and we found you passed out." the woman seemed to bite her lip after the account, and smiled once again. "We figured you were just lost and so we brought you here until you woke up."_

_That was a lie the moment it passed through the woman's lips, that much Katie could gather in that moment.  
_

_"You find a strange woman at an archaeological site and the first thought is 'hey, lets bring her home?" Katie looked between the man and woman. The woman seemed calm, but the guy looked nervous, twitchy even. "You know, I don't even care how I got here, I'm going to leave now." Katie turned back to the door, her hand reaching for the knob when she heard the distinctive sound of the clip being inserted into a nine milometer glock. _ _  
_

_"Put your hands above your head." he ordered and Katie slowly complied lifting her hands above her head as she turned back to the couple. _

_"I knew you'd ruin this." the woman spat looking over to him. "We had a cover and now it's broken because you got scared." _

_"Can we discuss this later Harbinger." the man grit through his teeth as he held the gun firmly aimed at Katie. "Move, in there, now!" Katie didn't move instantly, and the man seemed obviously frazzled by the fact, sweat seeming to stain his brow. "I said move!" Silently Katie turned and walked into what looked like some sort of sitting area, a lone chair sitting in the middle. "Sit!" Katie once again complied, not uttering a word. _

_"When she calls for an update, you will be the one to tell her you fucked this up." _

_"Well I'll tell her some mission with some psychotic doctor whose been held captive by even more psychotic assassins was a fucked up mission to begin with." the man said, his gun right next to Katie's head. "Get the rope and tie her up." He turned toward the woman when she didn’t move immediately, "Harbinger!” he called to her and she looked up to him with a quirked brow. "Or would you like to hold the gun?" the woman just shook her head before going to retrieve the rope. Soon Katie sat with her hands and ankles tied to the chair, a gun inches away from her head and an unknown woman sitting in front of her. _

_"I know how this looks, but trust me you really are safe here." the woman said and Katie tilted her head slightly. "My colleague is-" she glanced over to the man with a glare. "New and has not yet mastered the whole catching more bees with honey concept." _

_"To be fair it was your horrible lie that made me suspicious of you." Katie replied and the woman simply nodded. _

_"Well I'm not as experienced in the field yet, but that's not why I was chosen to be here." _

_"Chosen? By who exactly?" _

_"I believe you know Agent Amanda Waller with ARGUS?" the woman replied and Katie turned away. She hadn't heard that name in what felt like forever, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "We found out that you escaped Ra's Al Ghul's capture and-" _

_"Who the fuck are you?!" Katie snapped turning back to the woman. _

_"I'm sorry, I'm still a bit nervous." the woman said with a slight smile. "My name is Agent Lyla Micheals and if you help us we promise to help you get back home." _

"... time we visited our Queen Consolidated subsidiary in Moscow." Oliver said to Felicity who simply nodded before turning to John.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" John asks

"Just need to help a friend."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You didn't." was Oliver simple reply before turning to Katie who had turned away from them. "The hospital?" Katie lifted her head and turned to them. "Would you be able to take a few days off?" Katie opened her mouth and yet no words came out. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just-" she closed her mouth and nodded before nudging her head toward the back door. "Need some air." she was already walking toward the door, but stopped when she heard the footstep behind her. "Alone, ok?" she didn't turn, just kept walking in hopes that he would grant her this wish.

When Katie walked out the door into the dark alley, she was already slipping her phone from her pocket and dialing a familiar number. It only rang twice before it was answered.

_"I thought you might reconsider."_

"Cut the shit, what the hell is going on?" Katie asked, keeping her voice low.

_"Agent Michaels has gone off the grid while working in Moscow."_

"You told John?" Katie asked and the woman didn't say anything. "Out of all the agents you have up your ass, and you choose him?"

_"Mr. Diggle has a very impressive background and he has very impressive friends."_

"Waller, you want to manipulate and scheme to get your way fine, but these are my friends—"

_"And Agent Michaels is my agent and my superiors won't even let me lift a finger to find her! So you want to make this personal, it can be personal, but this is about the life of an agent I can't afford to replace. I have already gotten the ok from Mr. Diggle himself to go on this mission and I doubt Mr. Queen will be far behind. I guess it comes down to you doctor. Are you in this fight, or are you going to play the noble card?"_

Katie turned back to the back of the club and could feel the doubt and hesitation swarming inside of her at even the thought of working with Waller, but if her friends were getting themselves in this then she had no other choice really.

"This isn't some acceptance to some mission my father started years ago, and this isn't me joining team ARGUS, this is me helping my friends and finding Lyla."

_"If that's what you have to tell yourself doctor._" the woman replied before ending the call.

Katie let out an annoyed growl before pulling the phone from her ear. She closed her eyes and let the wind blow past her as she tried to convince herself that this wasn't a bad idea. She stood there for a couple of minutes and she was still unsuccessful and yet she dialed another number and brought it to her ear.

"Hey Becks, you know that vacation time you keep reminding me that I have?"

When Katie returned back to the basement, she noticed that John and Felicity were gone, as Oliver stood looking over one of the computers. He stopped when he looked over and noticed her walking over.

"So I called the hospital and was able to get a couple of days off." Katie replied with a slight smile. "I'm suppose to thank you from Rebecca for convincing me to finally take a break." Oliver walked around the table to stand in front of her and Katie stared in confusion. "What?"

"What was that before?" Oliver asked and Katie let out a sigh, because this topic of ARGUS and her connections to them, was not something she was ready to discuss. "You looked freaked out."

"I'm fine."

"You know you keep saying that to me as if you think I'm stupid enough to believe it." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "Your favorite color is yellow-"

"What are you doing?"

"You hate reality tv and yet you can watch them for hours."

"Liver-"

"You miss your dad, but you'll never say it out loud, but I know you spend hours in his office or at his grave." Oliver took a step forward reaching out and taking her hands in his. "Sickening how much I know about you, isn't it?" Katie dropped her head from his searching eyes afraid he will see the truth behind her own. "You're not fine. Talk to me."

"We're going to Moscow, we don't have time-" she tried to pull away, but he only held her hands tighter. "I don't want to do this."

"Why not?" Oliver asked and Katie met his eyes for just a second before closing the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck and smashing her lips against his. He wanted to talk more, try to get her to open up, but as it always happened when they kissed nothing else seemed to matter. When the need for air was just far too great, Katie pulled back far enough to drop her head to his chest. "Talk to me."

"I don't want to see it anymore." she whispered against his chest. "I don't want to feel it. Just don't make me do that." Oliver wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest still not ready to give up on this.

When they returned back to Katie's house, Oliver stuck around in hopes of convincing Katie to head to bed, but instead she chose to take her time packing. He stood in the doorway just watching as she folded her clothes in between yawning and sipping coffee.

"You're ridiculous." Oliver commented and Katie looked over to him with a tired glare.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere packing as well?" Katie asked letting out yet another tired yawn as she walked into her closet. "I don't need an audience to do this."

"Maybe I like watching you." Oliver said and he heard Katie chuckle. "You know what I like to watch even more?"

"I don't think we're at that point in our relationship, Liver" Katie replied walking back dropping a pair of pants into the suit case before zipping it closed. "I think what you watch when no one else around-" Oliver's arm came around her, grabbing the suit case from the bed and sitting it on the floor. When Katie turned, Oliver was standing unbelievably close. She lifted her eyes to meet his as his hands slid around her waist. "Liver..."

"Sleep, I like to watch you sleep."

"That sounds really creepy." Katie said and Oliver shook his head before slightly lifting Katie up and sitting her on the bed. "Seriously, you're really going to put me to bed."

"I am." Oliver replied kicking off his own shoes before climbing in the bed as well. Katie watched him with a wary eye as she slid back on the bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to bed." Oliver replied before reaching over and flicking off the lamp. He turned back to Katie, bringing an arm around her and pulling her to his side letting her head fall to his chest.

"I am still an adult you know?" Katie declared through another yawn. Her eyes seemed to get even heavier as the soft thump of his heartbeat played in her ear. Soon she just gave in and let sleep take her away.

It had been a while since Katie closed her eyes and opened them and there wasn't any craziness in between. No nightmares, no memories that made her want to kill herself. There was just nothing. Well not nothing. There was a warmth pressed against her back and a hand lazily moving along her thigh. There was a part of her that thought he'd be gone. She thought that she would wake up and have to feel that loss again when she turned over and he would be gone.

She felt him press a kiss to her neck, and a smile spread across her lips before turning around to meet a small smile on his lips as well.

"You look real proud of yourself."

"I am." Oliver replied pushing a few strands of her hair from her face.

"You can't stay with me every night."

"Why not?" Oliver asked and Katie dropped her eyes to his hand that still slid along her thigh. He followed her eyes and stopped before pulling back his hand. "I was just-" he met her eyes once again, glancing down to her lips. "Slow. We're supposed to be taking it slow."

"Yeah, and this will not lead to slow." Katie replied before standing from the bed. "This will lead to fast and hot and-" she looked over to Oliver who still laid in her bed making her just want to dive in with him.

"You're blushing." Oliver said with a pointed finger and Katie quickly turned away from him. "Are you flustered doctor?" she sent a glare to him and he laughed.

"Bite me Liver." Katie replied before turning and stalking into the bathroom. Oliver laughed standing from the bed and walking toward the bathroom, only to have it slammed in his face.

"You want to take it slow and I am fine with that. I can take it as slow as you need it, but it will not stop the fact that I love you and I think about you more than I probably should." he dropped his head on the door with a smile. "I know me leaving the way I did is making you hesitant about this and I completely understand, but I promise I'm not leaving you again. I'm here and I will be here." suddenly the door pulls open and Katie looks at him for a moment without saying a word.

"In your letter you told me that you didn't feel you deserved this." Katie said.

"I-" Oliver dropped his head. "I was in a dark place."

"We all were in a dark place, hell some of us still are." Katie said placing a hand on his chest as he met her eyes once again. "Don't make promises you don't even know you can keep. Just be here now and we will see where it goes." Katie placed a kiss to his cheek before walking around him to grab her suit case. Oliver stood there for a moment thinking that for some reason those words didn't sit right with him.

"No." Oliver finally said before turning back to Katie who stared at him in confusion. "I'm not going to stop making promises because I don't know if I can keep them, because we don't know that I can't." he walked over to her and captured her lips in a slow searing kiss, placing his hands over her face. "This is where I am and where I will be. I'm with you Twinkie." he kiss her once more. "I love you, and now you're stuck with me." Katie opened her mouth to speak, but found no words would come out. "I'm going to make sure the plane is ready, then we can change and go." there was another peck to her lips before he turned and walked out of the room leaving her dumbfounded.

When they arrived at the air field, Katie stared up to the large plane as she held her phone to her ear.

"No, Ethan, no-" Katie growled because the man on the phone wasn't giving her a chance to speak. "I don't give a shit!" he just kept going on and on about how he needed to be told that she'd be gone and how is he going to survive. "If you call me again, I'm going to do bad things to you." she looked over to see a car pulling up. "No I wasn't hitting on you. I'll be back in a week, don't call me again." Katie walked over to stand beside Oliver as the black car park right in front of them and out stepped Isabel Roschev.

"I didn't know Devil woman was invited" Katie whisper to which Oliver simply sighed.

"Where do you think you're going?" the woman demanded walking over to them, her eyes moving to Katie before looking back to Oliver.

"Tahiti!" Felicity replied out of nowhere without really thinking.

"That's funny. The flight manifest says you're going to Moscow." Isabel replied glancing over to Felicity who had to once again think on her toes.

"Well we were going to stop there, you know after Tahiti." they all glanced over to her once again trying to figure out the the logic behind the woman's lies.

"What kind of partner decides to interact with our overseas holdings behind the other one's back?" Isabel asks directing the question to Oliver, before glancing over to Katie. "With the competition?"

"I'm sorry." Katie says figuring now was as best as any to introduce herself to said devil woman. She took a step forward, but not too far since Oliver seemed to bring an arm around her waist to keep her in place at his side." "I don't think we've been formally introduced."

"Where are my manners." Isabel replied plastering on a very fake smile before holding out a hand to Katie. "Isabel Rochev, CEO-, I guess it's Co-CEO of Queen Consolidated."

"I'm-"

"Dr. Katherine Robins, CEO of Robins Incorporated. I'm very familiar with who you are." the woman said casting a glance to her hand before turning back to Katie. After a while of realizing Katie wasn't going to shake her hand she dropped it to her side. "Let me say I'm very impressed with how you've been handling your company since your father's death." for some reason Katie wanted to hit the woman. There was something about that compliment that just didn't feel genuine. She felt Oliver's hand gently squeeze her waist which seemed to calm her. "I'm also impressed that you were smart enough to know that running a billion dollar company was beyond your level of intelligence."

"Excuse me-"

"That's not an insult. Making your cousin COO was a very smart move, because lets be honest there's a reason doctors aren't heading up board meetings, am I right?"

"Wow, I think I want to punch you in the face." Katie replied before turning to Oliver. "Keep her far away from me." she turned and headed for the plane when she heard the sound of an engine of yet another car. This time when she turned, she saw a car that she recognized. "Son of a bitch." The black SUV came to a stop right behind Rochev's car, and out came her idiot of a cousin Jeremy who glared at her ignoring the looks he got as he stormed over to Katie.

"Russia, really?!" he snapped angrily and Katie rolled her eyes. He'd called her earlier, but she ignored his calls as she usually did. She tried to limit her interaction with the man until it was absolutely necessary which was usually around the time she had to show up for those quarterly board meetings and pretend to look interested. "You're about to get on a plane with Oliver Queen and Isabel Rochev and head off to Russia to meet with QC holdings and you saw no problem with that!"

"Hey!" Oliver snapped walking over to the man. "You need to calm down." Katie moved to block the two men before turning back to her cousin.

"I have shareholders ringing my phone off the hook with some tip that's spreading around that Oliver Queen is taking you out to wine and dine you before snatching the company right from under you." Jeremy said glaring over to Oliver. "Which I don't want to believe is true, but with your history-"

"Hey!" Katie snapped and the man brought his eyes back to her. "Oliver is visiting his company, I'm just along for the ride. That's it. That's what you tell the shareholders."

"No that's what you're going to tell the shareholders." Jeremy replied. "We are going to go to Moscow, visit with our RI branch there and show everyone that we're just managing our assets."

"There were way too many, "We's" in that sentence." Katie said with a shake of her head. "You're not going."

"Oh yes I am." the man replied glancing over to Isabel who was already stepping on the plane. "There's no way I'm letting you get on a plane with Isabel Rochev and Oliver Queen before going back to our board of directors and tell them oh, she's just along for the ride." the man ignored the look she gave him as his driver brought over his suit case. "There's booze on this plane, right?" he didn't wait for an answer before he was walking up the stairs of the plane.

"I'm going to hit some one." Katie says turning to Oliver who places his hand on her shoulders to calm her. "I'm not sure who, but it's going to happen at some point."

"No you're not." he replied turning to John who did not look happy.

"Oliver, them tagging along does not help matters any." John said glaring up to the plane before looking back to Oliver.

"Don't worry, I can take care of Isabel."

"And I guess I can keep Jeremy occupied." Katie asked with a plastered on smile. The thought of having to spend extended amounts of time with her cousin was not something she was looking forward to. "Don't worry, we will find Lyla." It was strange to say those words, but neither John nor Oliver seemed to notice. "I'm going to -" she nudged her head to the plane, walking over to Felicity who was walking on as well.

Katie's eyes were glued out the window at the blanket of clouds that covered the sky. She loved flying. There was something about being in the air, so far away from anything that made her feel safe.

"You're not even reading it." came Jeremy's annoying nagging. Katie let out a deep sigh before turning to the man. "I already have a meeting set up and in the highly plausible case someone asks you a question, I want something that makes sense to come out of that mouth of yours." Katie looked down to the file in front of her and shook her head. It was filled with spending reports and investment details and other things that didn't interest her. "Look I get his part of the business isn't your forte, but these investors want to see you actually making an effort."

"I'm a doctor." Katie says picking up the file and tossing it at him. "If I'm the source of their information about this company then they're dumb as shit for investing in it. This is your job-"

"And what exactly is yours?" Jeremy asked angrily. "Sit around and do nothing. Is that why your dad handed you the key to the city instead of me." the man leaned forward slightly. "I can't do this. You either play your part, pull your weight or things are going to happen."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm thinking about the longevity of this company and bringing in the things that will help and getting rid of the dead weight." the man stood to his feet and dropped the file on her lap before walking off to another end of the plane. Katie let out a frustrated growl before picking up the file and flipping through pages. Her eyes went ever so often further down the plane where Oliver and Isabel sat across from each other. They were whispering about something, and from the look on Oliver's face it was not a very pleasant conversation.

"I don't understand what the issue is." Isabel said only for Oliver turn away from her with a shake of his head. "You claim that you want to help this company survive, to flourish and yet you won't take advantage of an opportunity that practically sitting in your lap."

"I told you-" Oliver said, his voice slightly louder then he intended. "I told you that it's not happening, now drop it."

"Do you even understand the potential profit from such a venture?" Isabel asked and Oliver turned to look out his window hoping his blatant ignoring will give the woman a hint.

"I don't care about potential profits." Oliver replied turning back to the woman. "The last thing I am going to do is mix this business with my relationship with her. So give it up." Oliver unbuckled his seat belt and stood to his feet before walking back to take the seat beside Katie.

"Good talk?" Katie asked keeping her eyes on the notes Jeremy had given her.

"The best." Oliver replied sarcastically as he leaned over to look at whatever she was reading. "What's this?"

"Oh, this is supposed to make me not sound like an idiot when I meet with our Moscow branch." Katie replied her eyes narrowing at something she was reading. "What does that mean?" she pointed to the sentence and Oliver read it before shrugging. "Why the hell would anyone let us run billion dollar companies?"

"I have no idea." Oliver replied plucking the notes from her hand and tossing them on the seat across from them. "It's going to be a long flight. You should get some sleep."

"I'm not sleepy." Katie replied defiantly even though her eyes were a little heavy.

"So, but I am." Oliver replied bringing an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to his side. "I sleep better when you're close by."

"Fine." Katie says letting out a yawn as she drops her head on Oliver's chest. "But I'm only doing this for you." Oliver places a kiss on top of her head before finally giving into the sleep.

"Love you too Twinkie." he mutters as he snuggled closer to her in his seat.

"It's cute, isn't it?" Felicity asked as she looked over to the snuggling couple not too far from where her and John were sitting. She looked back over to John who only glanced up before dropping his head. She suddenly felt bad and quickly apologizes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Felicity it's fine." John replied looking over to the woman before turning back to Oliver and Katie. "I'm glad they're taking that step." Felicity looked at him for a moment, unable to not feel a but coming on.

"What?"

"There's still secrets." John says looking over to them. "She's not telling us everything."

"You say that like you know something." Felicity stated and John turned to her.

"Amanda Waller, the woman who told me about Lyla requested that I bring Oliver along on this to help." the man replied turning back to Oliver and Katie. "She also insisted that Katie come along." Felicity stared in confusion before following the man's gaze.


	7. Saving Harbinger II

**Chapter 7**

_  
**Saving Harbinger II** _

_"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."_

_-Buddha_

* * *

**BEFORE YOU READ**

**PHONETIC TRANSLATIONS: Brought to you by Google Translate**

**"Ostanovite zdes**"-"Stop here"

**"Voz'mite yeye pryamo v otele"**\- "Take her straight to the hotel"

**"kto ty"** \- "Who are you?"

**"zakhodi"** \- "Come in."

**"Takim obrazom, vy doch' zadnitsu "**\- "So you're the daughter of the ass?"

**"Dobryy den"**\- "Good day."

**"povernut' nalevo zdes' "**-"Turn left here"

**"Storona-chastnoye litso"**-"Private Party"

**"Privet , menya zovut Ketrin Robins**"-" Hello my name is Katherine Robins"

**"Otvet'te mne!"**\- "Answer me!"

"**Kak naschet my prodolzhayem na russkom"**-" How about we continue in Russian."

* * *

It was late when they finally arrived at the airport. Katie stood watching the airport worker look down to her passport for a moment before slamming a stamp to the page and sliding it back over to her. Katie was about to walk over to where Oliver stood with John and Felicity, but her cousin caught her arm.

"Alright, I've already got a couple of meetings scheduled tomorrow. I doubt you packed any clothes that aren't jeans and weird t-shirts, so I'm having some clothes sent to your room." he nudged his head toward the door. "I have a car waiting to take us to the hotel."

"I was sort of planning on going to the hotel with Oliver." Katie replied and her cousin gave her an amused look.

"You know it's laughable how pathetic you're being right now." Jeremy said with a shake of his head. "Didn't you do this already? Follow Oliver Queen around like some love sick puppy while he used you up before throwing you away. I thought you learned from your mistakes."

"Screw you." Katie said before moving around him, but he caught her arm and pulled her back with a jerk of his arm. She clenched her jaw as she restrained her initial reaction to beat the crap out of him for grabbing her.

"I know you're living in the land of candy canes and gum drops where you're loved by all and Oliver Queen chooses you. The truth-" Jeremy moves to meet her eyes. "The truth is that Oliver Queen is a man desperate to save his family's doomed company, which I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over. He's the competition and you gallivanting around Russia is not happening." he grabbed her arm once again and began pulling her toward the door, and that was when Katie decided that she really needed to hit him. Before she could even raise a fist, Jeremy's hand was pulled from her arm, a slight whimper escaping his lips as it did.

"Jeremy, I know we're not the best of friends and all," Oliver says still bending the man's fingers. "But I think you should know that you are not to put your hands on her again."

"Oliver, I can deal with him." Katie said noticing the looks they were getting.

"I know, but I doubt your way would leave him with a functioning hand." Oliver replied before releasing the man's hand and bringing an arm around Katie and ushering her toward the door. "What was that about?" Katie decided that Jeremy's not so nice words were something she should keep to herself.

"He's going mad with power." Katie replied as they walked out the door. "Where are we going first?" she glanced down the street where she saw Felicity and John standing beside an taxi.

"You're going to the hotel with Felicity." Oliver said and Katie turned back to him with a furrowed brow. "John and I need to go some place I don't think you should be."

"I'm sorry, what?" Katie asked taking a step toward him. "You invited me here to help. So why am I being sent to wait while the men do all the work?" Oliver opened his mouth to reply when Katie's eyes widen with a realization. "You didn't invite me to help! You wanted me here to keep an eye on me."

"John and I can handle this." Oliver says placing his hands on Katie's shoulders but she shakes her head refusing to be hypnotized by his blue eyes. "Katie-"

"You know you asked if I was ready to do this, to put on the mask, but I think I should've asked you that too." Katie replied pulling from his grasp and walking over to the cab, slipping in beside Felicity.

"She didn't look happy." John said walking over to Oliver who watched the cab pull off. "Maybe we could've used her help."

"These men are dangerous and I don't want her around that."

"I get that." John says with a slight nod. "But I don't think that's the real reason."

"I need to focus." Oliver says before turning to John. "She makes it hard for me to do that." That was a truth Oliver had long known. He needed to be something else at the moment, and that person just never seemed possible when Katie was around. He looked over to John and nudged his head. "C'mon, we should go see these guys."

Katie sat beside Felicity, who she could feel glance over to her ever so often during the drive. It was becoming annoying and so Katie finally decided to say something.

"Talk, Smoaks."

"So you and Oliver seem awfully cuddly all of a sudden. Well not just then. Then you two were all grrr, but on the plane." Felicity said nudging Katie's side and Katie couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips. "So are you two..."

"We are still figuring that part out." Katie said turning to Felicity. "We don't want to jump into something and it explodes in our faces. At least that's what I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"You know he'd been so hesitant about this, us and now that we're giving it a chance he's-" Katie shook her head. "He wants it and he's not scared, he wants me."

"And that's bad?"

"No, I'm just-" Katie turned back to look out the window. "Afraid I'm going to wake up from this dream." she saw a familiar symbol as they drove and quickly slid forward. "Ostanovite zdes." Felicity watched in confusion as the driver slowed down the car and pulled over to the side.

"You speak Russian?" Felicity asked turning to Katie. "Since when do you speak Russian and why are we stopping?"

"I need to see someone." Katie says turning to the woman. "I think it may help us find Lyla."

"Shouldn't we talk to Oliver about this?" Felicity asked clearly uncomfortable with the idea of Katie stepping out into the streets of Russia alone. "Who do you know in Russia?"

"Old associates." Katie replied before placing a hand on Felicity's shoulder. "I will be fine. I will meet you at the hotel in a couple of hours. Plus I'm sure Oliver has a tracking device somewhere on me, right?"

"I can't confirm or deny that. I can say that he's going to go all angry man when he finds out you're going off alone to work on this."

"Well he had the chance to let me work on this with him, but he's playing the hero and trying to protect me when I don't need protecting." Katie turned her head to the driver. "Voz'mite yeye pryamo v otele." Felicity looked at her with wide eyes once again. "My dad thought learning different languages would help me for when I would one day took over the company. This was before I told him I wanted to be a doctor, but I guess he knew something I didn't." Katie slid her baseball cap over her head and stood there to watch the cab drive off. Once it was gone, she turned and walked down the dark streets until she reached the building, her eyes looking up to the black and red symbol she'd know anywhere. She took a step forward and pressed the white button beside the door.

"Kto ty." a voice spoke from the speaker underneath the button. Katie walked over, her eyes looking to the camera before leaning in forward.

"My name is Katherine Robins. I'm sure Amanda Waller told you to expect me." she stood there for a moment, when suddenly the door buzzed and when she reached forward it actually opened.

_Katie sat there looking between the man and woman her jaw clenched when she realized who they were and who they were working for. _

_"Do you want to give her our social security numbers while you're at it Michaels?" the man asked angrily his gun still held beside Katie's head. _

_"This is my partner, Morgan Cooper." Lyla says sending the man a slight glare before looking back to Katie. "Put your gun down Cooper, she's tied to a chair." _

_"Do you know who Ra's Al Ghul is Michaels. I've heard stories about him and his land of freaks, so no I won't drop my gun from the only person known to have run and lived to tell about it." _

_"Ignore him." Lyla replies looking back to Katie. "You're here because we believe you could be a great asset-" _

_"ARGUS kidnapped me!" Katie spat angrily pulling at her arms behind her back. "And then tossed me into some twisted game with a psychopath before handing me off to yet another nut case. And now, now are you offering me a job?" _

_"I understand-" _

_"You understand nothing!" Katie snapped angrily wanting nothing more than to tear the woman in front of her apart. "Let me go, now!" _

_"That's not happening." Agent Cooper replies pushing the cold metal of his gun to her cheek. "And you're going to calm down before all your heart ache and pains are ended right here." suddenly Lyla's phone rings and she quickly retrieves it from her pocket before bringing it to her ear. _

_"Yes," the woman turns her eyes to Katie as she listens to the voice on the other end. "Yes she's awake." whatever was just spoken to her made her frown as she stood to her feet and walked further away. "I don't understand. I thought you wanted them to meet. No-No, I do understand my place ma'am, but-" the woman clenched her fists to her side. "Yes ma'am. I understand." she ended the call and turned back to Katie and Cooper. _

_"What did she say?" the man asked and Lyla glanced down to Katie before nudging her head to the other room. The man simply nodded before holstering his weapon and bending down next to Katie's ear. "Don't be stupid." And with that he and Lyla left the room, leaving Katie tied to a chair. She wonders if they know that one of her lessons while in their imprisonment was how to escape situations just like this one._

Katie walked inside to find a long dim lit hall that was completely empty. There was an elevator down the hall which opened suddenly and so she figured she was supposed to step on. Once on the elevator, Katie stood a bit straighter as she felt the elevator moving. Her eyes glanced up to the decreasing numbers before it finally stopped. She took a deep breath just as the doors slid open and there standing was a familiar face.

"Hello Katherine."

"Agent Cooper." she greeted dryly as she met the man's eyes. He looked slightly different since the last she saw him. His hair was a little shorter, and he was in the normal agent suit and tie garb. "So I was right in assuming you knew I would be coming here."

"I assumed you cared enough about her to show up." the man replied before stepping out of her way.

The outside of this old, run down building was definitely nothing like the inside which was filled with people and computers all over the place. It actually looked like some kind of government hide out. "Follow me." the man turned and stalked down the hall. Katie glanced down to a lower level where dozens of agents sat behind computers. With a shake of her head, Katie turned and rushed off to catch up to the man.

"So I guess I have to ask." Katie said appearing beside him as they walked. "Why are me and my friends here when you have an astronomical amount of resources here to find Agent Michaels?"

"Our hands are tied." Cooper replied opening a door and gesturing for Katie walk in. It was an empty board room, with a long table and lots of chairs surrounding it. There was a folder sitting at one end. "We are an agency that has to follow the rules and the Russians are allies right now we can't afford to make enemies out of."

"Russian allies? Since when?"

"I doubt you're here to understand the scope of our influence." Cooper replied walking over to the folder before sliding it over to Katie who caught it with her hands. Katie flipped through the folder, her eyes stopping to a photo of Lyla that looked as if she'd been beaten up pretty bad.

"She's in jail? How could she let that happen?"

"It was part of her mission." Cooper replied and Katie opened her mouth to speak. "Which I'm not going to disclose with you. It's called Koshmar, worse prison in Russia."

"If angering your Russian allies is such a big deal, then why is she in there?"

"Because she's stubborn and an idiot." Cooper replied with a shake of his head. "But I guess love will do that to a person." Katie looked back down to the photo.

"Is Deadshot in this prison?" she asked before looking back to him, but he didn't say anything. Katie groaned in annoyance before tossing the folder back over to him. "If you can't tell me anything then what is the point of me being here!?"

"Our alliance with the Russians isn't something a lot of people know about. It's also very shaky especially after the death of the agent who made it all possible." Cooper reached into the folder and pulled out a photo and slid it over to Katie. Katie lifted the photograph and gasped at the sight. It was her father, sure he was younger, but it was him and he was shaking someone's hand.

"What is this?" Katie asked looking over the picture to the man.

"That is your father shaking hands with the warden of the Koshnar, Nicholai Volkov." Cooper replied and Katie glanced back down to the picture. "It's strange. According to the stories I've heard, your father and Nicolai were locked in his office for hours and when they finally emerged, well the rest is history. He was very fond of your father, which is why we think a visit from the man's daughter might help you get our agent back." Katie dropped the photo to the table, unable to look at the man she'd known her entire life look so strange. "Katherine-"

"Don't." Katie said, her voice filled with warning as she glanced up to the man. "I have absolutely no doubt that if Waller put her mind to it, she could've figured out a way to shake this that didn't include me or my friends. This game she wants to play will not end well for her if she continues to mess with me." Katie turned on her heel and stalked back down toward the elevator.

Katie trekked down the dark streets of Russia, her hands stuffed into her pockets in an effort to fend off the chill Russian air. That picture of her father was still fresh in her mind and it was becoming obvious everyday that she didn't know the man who raised her. Katie stepped over to the curb and shot up a hand to catch the nearby taxi.

When she finally arrived at the hotel, she handed the driver a couple of bills before stepping out of the car and looking up to the large, fancy building in front of her. Letting out a sigh, Katie simply walked inside. The moment she did, her eyes went across the lobby where she spotted Felicity, John and Oliver who she thought she'd beat here. She really hoped she would, because the frown etched on Oliver's face at the moment definitely wasn't something she needed. It was Felicity who spotted her first, pointing a finger that caused Oliver and John to look in her direction. Katie gave a small smile with a little wave, but Oliver's eyes only darkened even more before he stalked over to her.

"Aw hell," Katie muttered under her breath as he walked up to her.

" I thought I told you-"

"Yeah, you did. But since I've been given the right of freewill I decided to ignore those orders you're so fond of giving." Katie interrupted before walking around him to where John and Felicity stood. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah." John says glancing over to Oliver who seemed to be glaring at the woman. "We should probably talk upstairs."

"Ok." Katie replied walking with them toward the elevator. Once the doors opened, John and Felicity stepped on first and Katie was about to as well, when Oliver caught her arm and pulled her back.

"We're going to take the next one. We'll meet you up there." Oliver says, and neither John or Felicity knew what to say, so they just nodded.

"You're being ridiculous." Katie muttered with a shake of her head when another elevator opened. They walked on to find it empty, much to Oliver's pleasure.

"Where were you?" he asked immediately after the doors slid closed.

"I went to meet up with my Russian boyfriend." Katie replied folding her arms over her chest.

"You think this is funny? Do you know where we are and why we're here?"

"I do, I know the dangers that lie on the streets of Russia, I also know that I'm not as at risk as a lot of others are."

"We had a deal. If you were to be on this team then you played by the rules. I told you to come to this hotel and wait for us to come back. When you break these rules, you put you and all of us in danger. I will not allow that, do you understand?" This was definitely not a version of Oliver Katie recognized. Katie didn't say anything, but she did silently nod before turning and awaiting for the doors to open.

"Katie-"

"You don't think you need me here." she said suddenly looking to the doors. "If you don't want me out there fighting and I don't have Felicity's skills and there are doctors all over Russia, then you don't need me here." the doors slid open and Katie stalked out, but she she heard Oliver's heavy footsteps behind her. Oliver caught her arm to stop the fast pace she was walking and spun her to face him.

"That's not true." he said placing his hands on her arms. "I need you-"

"Yes, you need me. Oliver Queen needs me and he loves me, but the other guy. He doesn't think he needs me here, not for the mission anyway." Oliver dropped his head because a part of him knew she was right. He wasn't ready to let her all the way in on this and he definitely wasn't ready to open her up to all the danger that came with the job he had. "I can help find Lyla. You just have to actually let me." Oliver lifted his eyes to meet hers once again and she see it. That hesitation he had as he thought about doing this.

"I don't want you to get hurt." Oliver says honestly, his hands sliding to her hips. "I know how that sounds given what we've chosen to do, but I'm still holding out hope that I can keep you from the dark stuff this could lead to."

"I've already seen the dark stuff Liver. I've been tossed into it and been surrounded by it for a long time and I admit that it gets close and I think I might lose myself to it, but-" a smile pricked her lips as she looked up to his eyes, sliding a hand to the side of his cheek. "I think of you, and it just doesn't. I have no idea why it works, but it does." Oliver dropped his head slightly to meet her lips, but just as he did the door behind her opened and Felicity appeared.

"Oh!" the woman says seeing the moment she had just interrupted. "Sorry, I heard voices and-" the woman shook her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Oliver says pulling back from Katie, but taking her hand and pulling her into the room. "We should go over this plan."

The plan was anything but simple. John was going to get himself arrested in order to get himself into the prison to save Lyla. There was an inside man that was a friend to Oliver's Russian contact here. It was still dangerous, even with the added benefit of Oliver on the outside making the moves to ensure John and Lyla's escape.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?" Felicity asked looking between their faces. "We're talking about infiltrating a highly armed Russian prison. Our safety nets are an inside man and the hope that none of us get caught trying to break you guys out."

"Felicity-"

"She's right." Katie says looking over to Oliver. "Look you guys want to know where I disappeared off to. I went to see a contact of my own." she noticed the look of confusion on their faces and sighed.

"Since when do you have contacts?" Oliver asked and Katie shrugged. "Since when do you have Russian contacts?"

"What, you're the only one who can have Russian contacts on the team?" Katie asked turning to him. She just shook her head before they were arguing again. "Look, it's just a guy I know who had some information that could help us save Lyla."

"What information?" John asked.

"My father-" Katie starts still unsure how much of the life of Jacob Robins she should share. "Worked in Russia often. He became friends with the warden of the prison. I could get in-"

"No." Oliver says with a firm shake of his head and Katie turned to him with sharp look. "I'm sorry, but John going into this prison is dangerous enough, but I'm not letting you go in there on some hope that this warden loved your father enough to welcome you with open arms."

"Are you kidding me? I have the opportunity to get in to this prison with the top dog, why wouldn't I take advantage of this?"

"We have everything covered. We have the guard and-"

"Do you trust him?" Katie asked. "This guard who you've never met, do you trust him to get them out of there?" Oliver didn't say anything which only answered her question. "I can do this." she turned to Felicity and John who looked uncertain as well before looking to Oliver for the ultimate decision. Katie turned to him as well.

"The answer is no." Oliver said finally and Katie dropped her head. "It's too dangerous." she glanced over to him and shook her head. "We have a plan and sending you in would inevitably be pointless."

"I think me being here is pointless." Katie replied looking over to John and Felicity. "I suck at standing on the sidelines and being a cheerleader. I think I should get a flight back to Starling." she turned and headed for the door.

"Katie, wait!" Oliver said walking over to stop her, but she stopped and turned back to him. "This isn't personal. Our plan is strategically sound, we don't need more risks thrown in."

"You're right. I'm agreeing with you." Katie replied with a nod. "I just get the feeling that all of your strategically sound plans won't include me other then having to clean you up when you've been beaten nearly to death and even then I'm sure John's medical training will be good enough. So if you don't need my help here, then I'm going home and I'm going back to work." she looked over to John and Felicity. "Good luck." and with that she turned and left the room.

"It wasn't a bad suggestion Oliver." John said breaking the silence and Oliver turned back to him. "It actually sounded like a pretty good safety net in case things went south. She could find out route information, give us a heads up on the guards. It would've made this go smoother."

"If she were caught, she-" Oliver dropped his head because for some reason that was the single thought he had in his head. He knew that it was a good idea and that it would help them, but his mind kept going to the thought of something going wrong and her being trapped in a Russian prison and him not being able to get to her. "I'm not going risk the chance of losing her if I don't have to. We have a plan and it's the plan we're using."

Katie walked into her room, and went straight over to look out of her window. She shouldn't be angry, or disappointed because this was the life she'd dreamed of. The one where she was a doctor and that's it. Still it doesn't seem completely possible. The need to do something more is still swirling around inside of her. She let out a deep sigh, turning around and stripping off her coat. The moment she did, her eyes caught a clothes rack lined with clothing and it seemed her next move was obvious.

The next morning after John went off to get himself thrown into the same prison as Lyla, Oliver and Felicity waited for the call that it had actually happened.

"Have you talked to Katie today?" Felicity asked snapping Oliver out of the daze he was in as he stared out of the window.

"No, I doubt she'll talk to me." Oliver replied not tearing his eyes from the window. He wonders if it was obvious that he was thinking about her.

"When has that ever stopped you?" Felicity asked and Oliver turned to her. "You need to tell her the truth. Tell her-"

"What? That while I'm training her not to be taken in by the darkness that I should be training myself on how not to lose my own?" Oliver shook his head before turning back to look out the window. "The closer I get to her, the more I can feel it slipping away and that can't happen."

"And pushing her away solves that?" Felicity asked, but Oliver didn't reply. "You brought her on the team-"

"As a doctor!"

"C'mon Oliver, you knew it would be more than that. You already knew what she could do, and when you brought her on the team you knew at some point she'd be in the middle of it."

"At some point doesn't have to be now."

"It kind of does unless you really think that little speech yesterday really sent her flying back out to Starling." Oliver turned away a bit, just now realizing how easy she gave up. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, because we really don't even know what it means." Oliver turned to Felicity with a look of confusion. "John's meeting with Agent Waller, apparently along with getting your help on this, she also insisted that Katie be brought in as well." Oliver walked over to her, expecting more, but Felicity simply shook her head. "He asked more questions, but didn't get any answers, but I think Katie may have a little insight." Without another word Oliver turned and walked out of his room, before storming down the hall to Katie's. He appeared outside of her door, and knocked as urgently as he could without being loud. After a few minutes of knocking and no answer, Oliver was ready to kick the door in, but that plan was thwarted thankfully.

"Please tell me she's in there?" a voice said from behind him and Oliver turned to see Jeremy glaring at him. The man walked over to the door and pounded his fist against it, not caring about the noise. "Open the door you annoying-" the man stopped when he realized no one was on the other side of the door. "I can't believe she did this. She's so-" he turned to Oliver. "This is your fault. I don't know how or why, but it is. So when I make the moves I have to make and she loses everything her father worked for, remember that." the man turned angrily and stormed down the hall.

Oliver groaned loudly before turning and heading back to his room, fully prepared to gather his things and go to that prison to get her. The moment he walked inside his phone rang, and before he even answered he knew who it was. John was in.

Katie stood in between two large Russian guards, in a small elevator that smelled so bad, she had to restrain herself from gagging. She glanced slightly to one of the guards and he didn't even seemed bothered by the smell at all. Soon the doors opened and Katie quickened her step off the elevator behind the guard who led her down a long hall way, illuminated by lights that hung from the ceiling. The place was quite dirty and had that same odor. Katie couldn't help but think that every Russian movie she'd seen had got the part of the prison just right. One of the guards knocked on a door.

"Zakhodi!" a voice spoke from the other side, and the guard grabbed the door knob and pulled open the door. Instead of going inside, both guards stepped aside to let Katie pass. She glanced over to them, neither meeting her eyes before simply walking inside. The door closed behind her, and she had to stop herself from showing how much it startled her.

Her eyes went to the uniformed man standing behind his desk looking down to some papers. He didn't even look up to her before gesturing for her to step forward and take a seat. Katie unsure of what else to do, walked up and sat in the chair and crossed her legs pulling at the bottom of her dress in hopes that it would cover more. She reminds herself to yell at her cousin for choosing such inappropriate clothes for business meetings. After a few moments of just watching the man reading he finally glanced up to her.

"Takim obrazom, vy doch' zadnitsu. " he grumbled and Katie had to force herself to smile because even though she understood him just calling her the daughter of the ass, she had to pretend as if she didn't.

"I'm sorry, my Russian is a bit rusty." Katie replied hoping her impression of a dumb rich kid was working. "Please tell me you speak English?" the man seemed to roll his eyes before finally sitting in his seat and folding his hands over his desk.

"Why are you here?" the man asked his accent thick, but not too much that she couldn't understand him.

"Oh, I thought you knew. I am Katherine Robins, my father-"

"I know who you are, and I know who your father was. That's not what I asked you. Why are you here?" his tone was hard, and from the look in his eyes, Katie was the last person he wanted to be dealing with right now.

"I was in Moscow on business, and I remember seeing a photo of you and my father so I thought what better way to get to know one of my father's friends-"

"I was no friend of your father." The man interrupted quickly with a shake of his head. "I merely tolerated him. He was probably the only American I met that I didn't want to shoot after a conversation."

"Isn't that a coincidence, me too." Katie laughed at the joke, but stopped immediately noticing that it wasn't getting the intended reception or at least she doesn't think from the hard, expression that's on the man's face. "Sorry, it's just, I was away for a long time and then I come home and my father dies and I'm left with the fact that I didn't know a lot about him other than he was good at his job. I guess I'm here to get a little insight into him. I mean he was a business man, how does a business man become frie- tolerated by a Russian prison warden?" he didn't say anything for a moment and it made Katie nervous.

"You are a doctor, no?"

"Yes, I am." Katie replied with a nod.

"My son is studying to be a doctor." Nicolai replied with what Katie thought might be a smile. He shook his head and it was soon gone. "Fine, do you want a tour of prison?"

"Oh, uh yeah, sure." Katie replied standing to her feet as the man did. She thought there would be more interrogations, but apparently the man really wanted to get rid of her and so Katie found herself trying to keep up with the man's fast pace as he walked.

She found herself only half listening as the man described the history of the building as they walked. Her attention was to the cells, and the men inside who glanced up to her, but didn't say anything as if afraid. She figured this place was pretty brutal to have such pleasant prisoners. Her eyes went to the guards as they walked past. They were all pretty large, and carried semiautomatics over their shoulders. They seemed to move in pairs throughout the building which would be helpful information later. It was still not something they couldn't learn from this inside man. If this plan was going to work then she had to bring some new information.

Suddenly Nicolai's phone rang and the man stopped and stepped away for a moment. Katie simply kept walking letting her eyes glance into each cell, until she found a familiar face. The moment John saw her, he tried his hardest not to react. He simply stared as she walked up to the cell and let her eyes scan over the small space.

"He is one of you." Nicolai spoke appearing beside her. "American that is. Here for drugs which isn't too surprising." the man seemed to glare at John before looking to Katie. "You Americans and your drugs." the man shook his head before nudging it down the hall. "Come, there is more to see."

"Right." Katie says taking a single step, before her feet seem to trip over themselves. The only thing stopping her from hitting the ground is the bars of the cell in front of her. She immediately started laughing with a shake of her head. "Aren't I clumsy?" she turned to the guards who were walking over and quickly waved them away. "I'm fine, it's fine. I may have hit the mini bar a little early." she walked over to the Nicolai, who simply shook his head at the woman as they continued walking. Katie glanced over her shoulder to see the guards continuing their stride down the other end of the hall.

John didn't move from his place in front of the bars until he was sure the coast was clear. Only when he was positive, did he bend over and pick up the cell phone Katie had slipped through the bars.

The tour ended in the surveillance room, where Nicolai wouldn't allow Katie to actually go into. They stayed at the door as he talked, and Katie barely listened. Her eyes caught the familiar face of Lyla lying on the floor of a cell. The location of the cell was blinking on the screen, but Katie couldn't quite see it from where they stood. She once again had to be very creative.

"Wow, those are some nice cameras you have there." Katie says taking a step inside the room.

"No-" Nicolai urged reaching for her, but she was a woman who moved quickly in heels.

"But c'mon black and white." Katie says glancing up to the screen and getting a look at the location clearly. She turned back to Nicolai who walked over to her with what looked like anger mixed with annoyance on his face. "My company has been developing high definition security for years now, we could hook you up."

"The tour is over now." the man said before grabbing her arm and pulling her with him toward the door. She allowed him to pull her, only glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone noticed that she slipped a bug underneath one of the monitors. The guards simply turned back to the screen as if nothing was wrong. "You remind me of your father." that was a statement Katie heard and it made her turn back to the man as they walked down the hall. "He too had trouble with following simple instructions."

"Why would you take me on a tour of your prison?" Katie asked once they arrived back to his office. The man walked around his desk and plopped into his seat.

"The picture you saw with me and your father was taken after I gave him a tour. Why I gave him a tour, God only knows." the man shook his head at the thought. "Your father was a talker, could probably convince anyone of anything." Katie walked over and took the seat in front of the man's desk. She didn't actually expect to get insight on her father. "He was a man of honor and it is difficult to find such a man anywhere." that wasn't the first time Katie heard someone compliment her father's character. She just wished that the compliments didn't come from a man who rules his own league of assassins or the man who's in charge of one of the most brutal prisons in Russia. "So what did you think of my prison? I hope it didn't scare you?" Katie let out a snort, but quickly regretted the move.

"Sorry, but I've seen more dangerous places than this." Katie muttered with a shake of her head. She looked back up to the man who stared at her for a moment before sitting back in his seat. "What?"

"Your father spoke those exact same words to me after I asked him that question." the man replied and Katie couldn't read how the man felt about that, until a smile tugs at his lips."You are very much like him." Nicolai said chuckling to himself. Katie had to force herself to smile once again, even though such a statement made her skin crawl.

"Well it is getting late, and I'm supposed to be in meetings today." Katie says standing to her feet. "I want to thank you very much for talking with me today and the tour. I think I know a little bit more about my father that I didn't before, so really thank you for that."

"Would you like some advice?" Nicolai asked standing to his feet and walking around to stand in front of Katie. "The dead no longer have stories once they leave this earth. You shouldn't go looking for one unless you're prepared to find something you wish you hadn't."

"I think it's too late for that." Katie replied reaching forward to shake the man's hand. "Thanks for the advice though." and with that Katie turned and headed for the door.

"Dobryy den." the man called after her as Katie pulled open the door.

"Good day to you too." Katie replied before stepping through the door a closing it behind her. She didn't see the frown that fell to the man's face at such a reply to words she supposedly didn't understand. One of his guards came in after Katie left and the man simply looked to him.

"Follow her." he ordered and the guard nodded before turning to leave.

Once Katie stepped out the doors of the prison, she walked quickly toward the car that was waiting for her. Her heels clicked with every step, until her driver pulled open the door and she slid inside. The moment the door closed behind her, Katie looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Oliver sitting there.

"What are you doing here?!" Katie asked placing a hand over her heart as the car pulled off.

"That's my line." Oliver replied staring at Katie with anger. "I distinctively remember telling you not to go to that prison, and the first chance you get, what do you do?"

"We need to have this conversation later." Katie replied her eyes on the rear view mirror.

"Why?" Oliver asked following her eyes.

"Because we're being followed." Katie replied turning back to look at the black car that has been following them every turn and lane change since they left the prison. Katie turned back to the driver. "Povernut' nalevo zdes!" Oliver looked at her with slightly wide eyes before turning to the driver who complied with the instruction and turned left.

"Why are they following you?" Oliver asked turning back to her.

"I don't—shit!" she turned to Oliver. "Shit!" she slapped his arm. "I wasn't supposed to answer him and I did." Katie groaned placing her hands over her face and shaking her head. "That son of a bitch tricked me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Is everything all set up for tonight?" Katie asked turning back to Oliver who simply nodded. "Alright give me your phone." he looked confused for a moment, but reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out his phone before handing it to her. Once the phone was in her hand, Katie quickly dialed Felicity's number before bringing it to her ear. She waited for a moment before the woman finally answered. "Felicity, hey it's-" she glanced over to Oliver. "No, I'm fine. Seriously, I'm fine, I-" the woman went into a fit of rambling and Katie shook her head. "Felicity, stop talking!" the woman apologized, and complied. "Sorry for yelling, but I need you to get your computer. I gave John my cell phone and I placed one of your bug thingys in the surveillance room of the prison. Can you see them?" Felicity said yes and a smile spread across Katie's face. "Good, keep an eye on them so when this plan starts we're not randomly blowing up walls. Alright, thanks." Katie ended the call and looked over to Oliver with a proud smile. "Say it."

"I'm not saying anything because we're being followed by angry Russians." Oliver replied slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"No, I'm being followed by angry Russians. You are going back to the hotel-"

"Is this another plan where I leave and you stay, because I don't do those kind of plans." Oliver replied and Katie shook her head before sliding over closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "You scared me today. You can't do that."

"You scare me every time you put that hood on and decide you're going to fight crime." Katie replied. "But I trust that you can take care of yourself, which you are going to have to do one day with me." Suddenly the car stood in front of a restaurant. "Like now when I get out of the car and go into this restaurant to meet with my annoying cousin, and you go back to the hotel and wait until its time to get our friend."

"Meetings and then back to hotel." Oliver said, trying to lighten his tone, but she heard the underlying order.

"Absolutely." Katie says with a slight smile before leaning forward to only peck his lips in a quick kiss, but before she could get too far, his hand moved to the side of her face and pulled her into a deeper kiss that took her breath away.

"As long as they're still following you, you make no moves alone and you always stay in public areas. If you run in to trouble, you-"

"Will handle it. Trust me for once." Katie replied just as the driver pulled open the door. She slid a thumb across his cheek before slipping out of the car, her purse in hand. Katie glanced down the street to see the car that was following her pull over to the side to park. She sighed before turning a smile to the doorman who pulled open the door as she walked in. The moment Katie walked in, she was hit with stench of cigar smoke and she coughed into her arm. She let her eyes scan over the place until she saw a back room, the familiar face of her cousin passed by. Katie walked over and was immediately stopped by a bouncer of some kind.

"Storona-chastnoye litso!" the man grunted moving to block the room and Katie simply tilted her head before reaching into her purse and pulling out her ID and handing it to the man.

"Yeah, I think I'm the guest of honor in that private party." Katie replied and it only took one glance at her ID, before his eyes widened and he handed her ID back. He quickly moved out of the way.

"I am very sorry Ms. Robins, please forgive me." the man said gesturing for her to go inside. Katie stared at the man, not quite expecting that response, but walked in just the same. The moment Katie found herself in this private room, she was hit with the sight of men in suits laughing, drinking and eating while women in very scantly clad clothing served them. Katie once again spotted her cousin who stood off to the side in what looked like a very serious conversation. She narrowed her eyes and walked over as covertly as possible.

"I'm telling you this is the right decision. I just need everyone on board and-" Jeremy noticed their eyes looking past him, and when he turned he saw her standing right behind him. "You're here?"

"Well you told me to be here and so I am." Katie replied bringing her arm around her cousins before leaning over to whisper. "Now stop trying to take my company." she turned back to the men and went to shaking hands. "Privet ,menya zovut Ketrin Robins."

And so that's how the rest of Katie's day was spent. Shaking hands with people who apparently worked for her. They all seemed surprised that this was the first time any of them were meeting her, but she wasn't. Her father was adamant about keeping his business and family separate unless it was absolutely necessary. This is probably why the only time she met anyone he worked for was at some sort of function. Once upon a time she thought the gesture was noble, now she just thinks it was all a part of his plan to keep her and her mother blissfully ignorant to who he really was.

By the time night finally came, Katie and Jeremy stood on the sidewalk awaiting their car to pull up.

"You did good back there kid." Jeremy says smiling widely as he looked over to her. Even though she was late, everyone loved her and reassured their loyalty to the company which was good to hear. "I think I might buy you a drink at the hotel bar."

"And I think you've had enough to drink as it is." Katie replied tightening her coat around her to shield from the cold. Soon a car pulled in front of them, but it wasn't their car. Soon two men in the familiar prison uniforms exited the car and walked over to Katie.

"What is this?" Jeremy asked looking between the men who were getting a little too close.

"Ms. Robins, you come with us." one of the men made to grab her ,but to her surprise, it was Jeremy who grabbed his arm to push him away.

"The hell she is! Who the hell are you and what do you want with her?" he asked, but Katie placed a hand on his arm and he turned to her.

"Jeremy it's fine." she replied with a slight nod. "I just remembered that I was supposed to be meeting up with an old army buddy of my dad who lives here. I forgot he told me he was going to send his associates to bring me to his place for a late drink." Jeremy looked at her like she was crazy, before grabbing her arm and pulling her from the man.

"Did you just hear what came out of your mouth? What friend, and why are you going alone?"

"Because he knew my dad." Katie says looking over to the men who subtly moved their hands to their guns that seemed to be holstered at their side. She turned back to Jeremy with a smile. "Don't worry, I shouldn't be gone long and I'll see you in the morning when it's time to head home." she didn't give him a chance to argue before she was rushing back over to the guards who grabbed her arm and pulled her to the car, almost pushing her inside. Jeremy stood there watching the scene, not liking anything about it before the car sped off.

Katie sat in the back seat of the car, next to one of the men who placed his gun in his lap, a silent order that she shouldn't try anything. And since at the moment she was just the doctor, she would comply until an opportunity arose.

When Jeremy arrived at the hotel, he ran into Oliver and Felicity just as they were rushing out. He moved in front of Oliver to stop him, not missing the look of annoyance on his face as he did.

"Jeremy, I don't have the time."

"Neither do I, just tell me who this friend Katie's supposed to be meeting so I can make sure she's alright?"

"What friend?"

"Some friend who sent two uniforms with guns to bring her to him." Jeremy said and Oliver's jaw clenched before looking over to Felicity. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine." Oliver says turning back to the man with a slight smile. "Don't worry about her, I will bring her back, ok?" he gave the man a pat on the shoulder, before he and Felicity rushed out the door, leaving Jeremy in even more confusion than before.

"Friend?" Felicity asked trying to keep up with Oliver's fast pace. "Should we be worried?"

"Apparently not!" Oliver said angrily opening the door to his car. "We're supposed to trust her."

Katie found herself once again in the office of Nicolai Volkov, this time the sun that was filtering in earlier was gone, and the only light came from the dim light that hung from the ceiling. The man had yet to grace her with his presence, which she was sure was supposed to make her nervous, but in reality it just annoyed her. Katie sat, her eyes locked on to a picture of boat sailing at sea, and it seemed to pull her back into yet another long passed memory.

_Katie's eyes stared at the picture of sinking ship, as she pulled her bound wrists. With each tug and pull, she could feel the ropes loosen, and so she continued until she had just pulled enough to slip her hands free. The moment the rope fell from her wrists and hit the ground, Katie quickly bent over to untie the ropes from her ankles, before standing to her feet in search of a way out. She ran toward the opposite hall Lyla and Morgan had disappeared, only finding that it connected to the same hall. The moment she stepped out, she saw Lyla and Morgan speaking in hushed tones, but she quickly dipped behind the wall before they could see her. _

_"She no longer wants them to meet." Lyla whispered "The virus has gone air born, we need to move quickly." _

_"And how do you expect we do that with her. You're right, we need to leave but dragging her along is only going to slow us down. I say we leave her." _

_"Our orders are to bring her back to command. Waller still wants her." _

_"Waller isn't here, and I'm choosing my life over hers." Morgan replied before walking back into the room, to find an empty chair and rope on the floor. "Shit!" he raised his gun, searching for the woman. _

_"What is-" Lyla stopped when she too saw the empty chair. "Where is she?"_

_Once the hall was free, Katie quickly headed for the stairs, which she ran up. She knew they heard her, but she didn't care. All she cared about was placing as much distance between them and her as possible. The moment her foot touched the last step, Katie ran into the first room she saw, slamming the door behind her and turning off the light. Her chest was heaving, as she stood with her back pressed against the wall beside the door. The heavy footsteps from the other side of the door got louder and louder and she could hear their whispered voices. After a few moments, there was no sound and Katie wondered if they were even still out there. Then suddenly the door knob twisted, but didn't open it and then almost immediately, bullets burst through the door before it's kicked open. _

_Morgan came running in, his gun held high and the moment he did, Katie took a step forward from behind the door, shoving a foot into the back of his knees, causing the man to drop to one knee. She grabbed the back of his head before slamming it into her own knee, making sure to grab his gun before he dropped to the floor. Without even taking a breath, Katie aimed the gun to the door where Lyla stood holding a weapon in her hand pointed at Katie. _

_"Drop the gun."Lyla ordered slowly moving forward. _

_"Drop dead." Katie countered not even attempting to lower the gun. "I'm leaving here and I'm going home." _

_"You leave this house and you're dead." Lyla replied. "That call I got earlier. Apparently a virus has been released and it's spreading quickly. You step out that door, you go wandering on your own, you will die." _

_"You're lying." _

_"I wish I was, but it's true." Lyla says before she does something Katie doesn't expect. She drops her gun to her side. "Look I know you want to get home and I can promise that will happen at some point-" _

_"At some point!" Katie snapped angrily. "The people you worked for kidnapped me, forced me do things I didn't want to do and now you're telling me that I will go home at some point. Fuck you!" _

_"You want answers and you don't get them if I die. If I die, then the people who kidnapped you and forced you to do things will do worse trust me. You have no reason to believe me, but trust me you're half way home, you just have to hang on a little bit longer." Katie stared at the woman for a moment, the doubt and suspicion still swarming around in her, but then there was something else. It was reality. And in reality she had absolutely no idea what her next move was. She escaped Ra's fortress and she had no idea how close he was to finding her. At the moment she didn't know if she could even afford to move forward on her own. _

_"We're not the bad guys." Lyla added and Katie unintentionally let out a snort. _

_"You're not the good guys either." she replied dropping the gun to her side. "Waller, she runs the show and dance?" Lyla nodded. "Then that's who I want to see." she looked down to the man still unconscious on the floor with a shake of her head before climbing over him to get out the door. "Wake your friend up so we can leave." _

"I remember looking at your father once, and wanting nothing more than to put a bullet in his skull." a voice said from behind her and Katie opened her eyes. "He was a noble man, yes, but he liked to talk. A lot. And I don't trust people who talk a lot. People who have so many words to say usually only say them to distract you from something." Nicolai walked around his desk to finally take a seat behind his desk. "You talk a lot, but you're not as good at distracting as your father." Katie didn't say anything and the man angrily slammed a fist to his desk. "Otvet'te mne!"

"I don't know what you want me to say. I came here to learn about my father which I did while you gave me a tour of your fucked up prison and then I left. At what point did you think sending two of your men to summon me was needed?"

"Kak naschet my prodolzhayem na russkom." the man said leaning slightly forward on his desk, only for Katie to look at him in confusion.

"I told you I don't speak Russian."

"Except when you left and -"

"You told me good day?" Katie asked with a shake of her head. "Everyone I've talked to has told me Dobryy den' you paranoid bastard. I figured that's what it meant before I came here." she shook her head before standing to her feet. "I'm going back to my hotel now and in the morning will be going home, so you won't-" suddenly they both jumped at the sound of an obvious explosion. Nicolai jumped to his feet, and ran out of his office to see guards running down the hall and so he followed. "I'm just going to go!" Katie called after him, knowing he had already forgotten her existence at this point. She simply shrugged before making her way toward the exit.

When Katie arrived back to the hotel, she didn't realize that she didn't have a key to Oliver's room the moment she reached for the doorknob. She needed to wait here until they returned or in case something goes wrong and they don't return.

"Shit!" she muttered before turning down the barren hallway. She let out a sigh before sliding to the floor, her back pressed against the door. It was this moment that Katie found the exhaustion of the day catching up to her and even though she tried to stay awake until Oliver arrived, her eyes just got heavier and heavier.

_Katie sat in a small plane, her eyes out the window as they pulled off. She had been in Hong Kong for all of a couple of hours before having to leave after some virus that was or was not spreading. Right now her focus was on getting home and she just hoped this Agent Waller would be the one to make that happen. She felt someone sit in the seat beside her and Katie glanced over to see Lyla. _

_"I'm not really into small talk." Katie muttered turning away from the woman to look out the window. _

_"Neither am I." the woman replied closing her eyes and making herself comfortable. "But I'm very good at listening." Katie glanced over to the woman with a raised brow. _

_"Excuse me." _

_"It's in your eyes." Lyla says, not even cracking her eyes open. "It's the eyes of someone whose seen a lot. People like that usually need to let some of it go. I'm saying that if you want to talk, I'm here." _

_"Well you will be waiting a very long time for that conversation." _

_"This is a long flight." Katie couldn't help but crack a small smile before turning back to look out the window. _

A hand hooks under Katie's knees, and another under her shoulders and when Katie's eyes snap open she finds blue eyes staring down to her.

"Did we save them?" Katie asked, her voice still rough from sleep.

"Yeah, we saved them." Oliver says before pushing open the door and carrying her inside. He kicked the door closed with his foot and walked over and laid her on the bed, before dropping in as well. Katie rolled over to wrap her arm around his middle and lay her head against his chest.

"You smell like a Russian gulag." Katie muttered and she heard Oliver tiredly chuckled.

"So do you." he replied before placing a kiss to the top of her head. "Sleep, we're leaving in a couple of hours." the rooms fell into silence for a few moments before Katie broke the it.

"There's going to a lecture later, isn't there?"

"Absolutely."

When Oliver said a couple of hours, he really meant just couple because it seemed the moment they closed their eyes, it was time to wake up and head to the airport.

Katie spent most of the ride to the airport, half asleep with her head on Oliver's shoulder fighting to keep herself awake. When they arrived, Oliver took her hand to help her out of the car. Katie groaned at being hit with the bright light of the sun, dropping her head to Oliver arm to shield her eyes.

"Make the sun go away." she groaned and she heard him laugh at her as he brought an arm around her and lead her to the plane.

"Anyone else need a couple of more hours of sleep?" Felicity asked from her spot at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the plane. She let out a yawn before taking a sip of the hot coffee she held in her hand. Katie looked over to the woman and reached for her cup, only for the woman to pull it away. "Get your own." Felicity snipped before turning and heading up the stairs and entering the plane.

"I'm sure there's coffee on the plane." Oliver says as they walked up the stairs as well. When they walk further inside, everyone who is supposed to be there is there, well everyone except for Isabel who seemed to be taking her sweet time. Katie's attention goes to the woman she hasn't seen in a very long time.

Lyla Michaels sat with her head on John's shoulder before John whispered something in her ear and she looked up and locked eyes with Katie. For a few moments the women just stared at each other, before Lyla stood to her feet and took a couple of steps forward. Without really thinking, Katie took a few steps toward her as well bringing them right in front of each other. They were being watched, very closely, that they were aware.

"John tells me you helped save me." Lyla says with a slight smile, but Katie didn't say anything. "I guess I should thank you."

"Don't bother. It's what we do." they don't say anything else, but anyone paying attention can see the recognition the women have in their eyes as they look to one another. Oliver tears his eyes from the women before glancing over to John who seems just as lost as he is.

Soon high heeled feet click up the stairs, and Isabel appears, not muttering an apology for her lateness before taking a seat.

"I guess we're ready to go."Oliver says taking a step forward and taking Katie's hand. Lyla seems to to watch the interaction, a smile tugging at her lips before she turns to return to her own seat.

Once they sit, and the plane takes off, Katie drops her head to Oliver's shoulder and hopes to just drift off into sleep.

"So do you know Lyla?" Oliver asked and Katie didn't answer immediately. She does tilt her head back to see his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean before, when you two saw each other, it didn't look like the meeting between two strangers." Oliver said and Katie quirked a brow before pulling away from him. "How do you know her?" There was an accusation in his tone that she didn't like.

"How do you think I know her?" Katie asks figuring he already thinks he knows something. "If you have something to say, then just say it."

"Just answer the question." Oliver repeated turning to her, his tone changing to that person she doesn't like. The man who wears the hood and is suspicious of everything he doesn't know. Katie looked over to where Lyla laid cuddled against John asleep and she turned to look out her window. "How are you connected to ARGUS?" he finally asked and Katie didn't even bat an eye at the question.

"I wasn't kidnapped by extremists." Katie whispered finally turning her eyes to meet his. Oliver stared at her silently, surprised by revelation. She'd lied, and he doesn't know why. "It was made to look like I had and I thought it would just be better if I just kept up the illusion. The truth didn't seem plausible."

"Who kidnapped you?" Oliver finally asked one of the many questions now bouncing in his head. Katie lifted her eyes back to Lyla and John and Oliver followed her gaze.

"The people Lyla Michaels works for." Katie answered turning back to Oliver. "ARGUS."


	8. Locked Down

**Chapter 8**

**LOCKED DOWN**

_"There is no decision that we can make that doesn't come with some sort of balance or sacrifice."  
_

_-Simon Sinek_

* * *

There are some people who see through half truths like sheer panty hose. They might not know it, but there's always this nagging feeling inside of them telling them that there was something missing. Katie seemed to realize that Oliver was one of those people. After her revelation about who really kidnapped her, she assumed all questioning would stop after that, but he seemed intent to know more. He wanted to know why and what she did, but she evaded those questions because in the end it lead to the big question mark over her father. Ever since, it's probably been an entire week since she's had a full conversation with the man. Sure they talked, they checked in, but then there's always the part of the conversation that's just silence and she knows it's him waiting for her to come out with it, and when she doesn't he's suddenly busy with work and has to go.

Oliver Queen was pulling away from her, because she was afraid to tell him the truth. Something that she was angry at him for just a year ago. She knows it's crazy, that he'll probably be supportive, but another part of her thinks he'll hate her. Her father could possibly be responsible for sending him to Lian Yu and for having her taken by ARGUS and Ra's Al Gul. Both were still only possibilities and she just had to know if they were true and she was finally going ask for help.

Katie sat staring down to her coffee, her mind once again traveling to Oliver who she was beginning to miss when the doorbell rang. She glanced down to her watch and sighed before standing to her feet and quickly pulling open the door.

"You're late Smoaks." Katie says stepping aside to let the woman in.

"Yeah, well Oliver's had meetings all morning and when he's busy, I'm busy. Have I told you how much I don't like this job." Felicity replied walking in an taking off her jacket.

"Once or twice." Katie replied as the woman headed straight for the kitchen. Katie shook her head, closing the door before following after. "Well now I don't have much time before I have to get to work."

"What's up then?" Felicity asked pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "Aww, this is so good." she glanced over to Katie. "Sorry, what's up?"

"I need your help with something." Katie replied and Felicity narrowed her eyes. "And Oliver can't know about it."

"I knew there was a catch." Felicity sighed sitting the cup down. "If this is big, then I'm not sure I'm comfortable with keeping it from him."

"Define big."

"Will it lead to the death and or destruction of any living organism?" Felicity asked and Katie turned away in thought for a moment before turning back to Felicity.

"Nope, I just need some information and I know no one who can dig as deep as you." Felicity smiled at the compliment before picking up her mug once again.

"If it's just information you need, then why can't Oliver know?"

"Because it sort of involves him." She didn't miss the look of confusion that passed the woman's face. "Felicity, please once I have this information then I will come clean to Oliver. But at this point I don't know enough to just start talking."

"Wait," Felicity says sitting down the cup and walking around the counter to take Katie's hands in hers, a smile pulling at her lips. "You're not pregnant are you, because that would be-"

"Felicity no!" Katie says pulling her hands from the woman. "We haven't even—well it's been a while since we—just I'm not, ok?"

"Well then what is this about?"

"Follow me."

Felicity stared wide eyed at the compilation of photos, articles and notes that were taped to a wall in Katie's basement. The basement itself was a bit of a surprise with all the weapons, but now she saw this and was in a bit of information overlord.

"What am I looking at?" Felicity finally asked and Katie sighed before walking over and sitting behind her computer.

"A year ago Oliver left and I was heartbroken and so I decided I was going to take Bruce's offer to go back with him to Gotham to start new. When I got there, he was with Amanda Waller."

"Why was she there?" Felicity asked taking the other seat that was beside the desk.

"Apparently they have been working together." Katie replied still angry at the secrets that were kept from her. She shook her head before turning back to Felicity. "That's not the point, the point is Waller finally told me why I was taken." Katie turns her head to the picture of her father that's pinned to the wall. "She said my dad orchestrated the whole thing." Felicity followed her eyes before standing to her feet and walking over to get a closer look at some of the things there. "I just—I can't believe that, you know. I can't believe my dad would have me taken, have me broken and then built up into this thing that kills and hurts."

"Why don't you want Oliver to know about this?" Felicity asked turning back to her. "He would be there for you and he would want to help." Katie dragged out a long breath before standing to her feet and walking over to stand beside Felicity. "What is it?"

"According to Waller, my kidnapping isn't the only thing my father was behind." Katie replied her eyes looking to the cryptic letter written to Robert Queen from her father, it's words seeming to make more sense to her, then Oliver. Felicity looked at her for a moment before it clicked.

"No," the woman said with a shake of her head before turning back to the picture. "Your father is behind Oliver ending up on Lian Yu."

"I don't know. I don't trust Waller as far as I can throw her, so I don't know if the information she fed me is true or not." she turned to Felicity. "That's why I need you."

"I don't know if I can do this." Felicity said walking away toward the stares but stopping before actually going up. She turned back to Katie. "This is big, like really big. Oliver deserves to know."

"Oliver deserves to know the truth." Katie says walking over to the woman. "The words that came out of Waller's mouth haven't been verified and that's what I need you to do."

"This doesn't feel right. Hiding this from him." Felicity said with a shake of her head before looking up to Katie. "Have you talked to Bruce?"

"Bruce is the last person I'm talking to right now." Katie replied glancing down to her watch. "I have to get to work." she glanced back up to Felicity. "Will you help me?" Felicity stared long and hard the debate going on in her head was clear on her face.

"Fine, but we tell him as soon as we find something."

"Deal." Katie replies with a nod.

The rest of Katie's day was spent ignoring the mixture of relief and nervousness that was spinning around her. She tried her best to just focus on her patients, but ever so often she wondered if Felicity had finally found something.

Katie didn't realize how distracted she was getting until the chart in her hand was pulled out of her grip before slapping her in the back to the head. She turned a glare to the culprit, who turned out to be none other than Ethan Mills.

"Hello there." he said with a bright smile as Katie snatched the chart from his hand. "Where were you just now?"

"None of your beeswax Dr. Mills." Katie replied as she finished filling out the chart. "Go annoy someone else please."

"I would, but I don't wanna." the man replied leaning over the nursing station and glancing over into the waiting area that had only a few people. "You and Adams cleared 'em, didn't you?" he nudged her shoulder. "It sucks that Becks scheduled me for graveyard without you."

"Sucks for you, heaven for me." Katie replied before reaching over and ruffling his hair. She returned the chart to the rack before walking off toward the locker room. Just as she walked around the station, she heard the whooshing sound of the sliding door, and glanced over to see three men walk in, all wearing trench coats and gas masks. Everyone stopped and watched as they walked right over to where Ethan stood behind the station.

"Can I help you?" he asked staring wide eyed at the men. Without a word, all three men reached inside of their trench coats and pulled out automatics weapons gaining screams from all around.

"You can get on the ground." came the muffled voice of the man who seemed to be the leader. Ethan stood frozen in shock as he looked at the weapon. The man simply fired off a round into the ceiling. "Everyone on the ground now!" soon people scurried to the floor. "You, come on this side." he ordered Ethan who held up his hands and walked around the station to drop to the floor beside the other hostages. The leader of the group turned his head to see Katie who still hadn't dropped to the floor and so he walked over.

"Are you going to be the hero today?" he asked leaning his masked face in to her. "You see this—" he lifted his gun so she could see it. "This has real bullets, so unless you want to end up downstairs in the morgue I suggest you get over there on the floor." Katie's eyes went from the gun to man's face, which was totally unidentifiable with the mask. She did see green eyes. "If I have to tell you again, you will not like it."

"Katie!" Ethan called the fear and worry breaking his voice. "Please, just come on." Katie inhaled deeply, as she chose to ignore her initial reaction of attacking, because she just couldn't. Doing what she wanted in this moment would reveal way too much of the person she really is and she has worked hard to create this different person. She was just the doctor, and so she would have to act like one. Katie silently walked over to sit beside Ethan, her back against the wall as she kept her eyes trained on the men.

"Alright." the leader says before turning to his partner on the right. "Clock starts now." suddenly the partner reached into his bag and pulled out a laptop that he placed on the nursing station and began typing away. "Alright everyone, just stay calm and cooperate and we all will get home to our families!"

Only moments later did the lights shut off in the entire hospital and the back up generator kick in. They all heard the sound of heavy doors closing before the automated voice spoke through the speaker.

_"Hospital lock down procedure now activated."_

"Beautiful." the leader spoke looking over to the mask man on the computer.

"Oh, the black and blues are here." said the third man who stood looking out the windows of the entrance. He looks over to the leader who simply nods before turning to the hostages.

"Cells phones people, I want them all right now!"

Felicity's complete focus was on the rapid movements of her fingers as she dug through ARGUS files for even a mention of Jacob Robins. Every time she thought she was getting close, she would hit a wall with the words restricted access. She could get through it, but getting through it undetected was the real issue. She needed firewalls, and a large cup of coffee which she didn't have at the desk outside of Oliver's office.

"Felicity!" Oliver's voice yelled and the woman jerked her head, quickly changing the screen and turning to him with an innocent smile.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Are you alright? I've been calling you for a while."

"I was just-" she glanced over to her screen to the underwater screen saver that was currently playing trying to think up a lie off the top of her head, which is not something she excels in. "Looking for a boat." yep, definitely still sucked at lying.

"A boat?" Oliver asked and Felicity turned to him determine to keep it up.

"Yeah, I hear sailing is a really good stress reliever." the woman replied not missing the slight confusion on the man's face. She really needed to change the subject. "Did you need something?"

"You mentioned contracts that I need to sign."

"Oh!" Felicity says looking over to the stack of contracts on her desk. "Right, sorry." she grabbed them and quickly stood to her feet and walked over to hand them to him. "All you have to do is sign the first two, and initial the last one." she tilted her head slightly in thought. "Or was it initial the first two and sign the last one."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Oliver asked once again, really starting to become concerned.

"I'm fine, just had an interesting lunch with Twinkie." Felicity said with a slight shake of her head before walking back to her desk. When she looked back up to the door, she saw Oliver still standing beside her desk. "Was there something else?"

"Uh, no, I was just wondering—" he glanced down to the papers in an effort to hide the embarrassment he was suddenly feeling for even asking this question. "How is she?"

"Who? Twinkie?" Oliver lifted his head and nodded. "I'm not going to answer that question because I am not a telephone. That is where you will get your answers." Oliver sighed about to turned back to his office. "Talk to her."

"I try, she just doesn't talk back." Oliver replied with a shake of his head.

"And you don't think there's a reason for that?" Felicity asked. "Every piece of information we’ve gotten so far about those three years have been really bad and I can understand why she didn't want to talk about them." Felicity looked back to her computer. "I couldn't even imagine going through some of the things she's had to go through." she looks back over to Oliver. "You out of everyone should understand this. Stop being a hypocrite for a second-"

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are Oliver. Mister I can have secrets but no one else can."

"I'm going back to my desk now Felicity." Oliver grumbled before turning and heading back into his office.

Oliver dropped back into his seat, glancing down to the contracts in front of him as he wondered if Felicity was right. He can definitely understand memories being so bad that you don't even want to talk about them. He definitely had a couple of them. Oliver ran a hand over the stubble on his face as he stood to his feet and walked over to the window. He looked out at the city, before hearing voices from outside his office. When he turned his head, he saw John now standing over Felicity's desk. From the frown on the woman's face, whatever he was telling her was not good. Oliver was about to walk over, when both John and Felicity turned to look at him. Felicity stood to her feet and walked with John into Oliver's office who stood awaiting whatever today's drama would be.

"Have you seen the news?" John asked and Oliver shook his head. Felicity rushed to Oliver's desk before typing a few keys on his computer.

_"We still have no new information on the hostage situation." came the voice from the computer. _Oliver and John walked around see the crowd of people and police outside the hospital that has been taped off._ "What we do know is that about a hour ago a call came into the police station about men with guns entering Glades Memorial Hospital."_ the reporter looks over her shoulder as gun fire sounds from inside the building._ "Was that gunfire?" t_he woman dropped to her knees before turning back to the screen._ "This is Maria Lopez, there was just gun fire from inside GMH." _she turned at the sound of the police yelling for people to back away from the building._ "I am going to see if I can get anymore information on the situation, please stay tuned."_

"She's there." Felicity said, but Oliver already knew. Felicity and John look over to Oliver's whose eyes are still on the screen that's no longer playing the report. "Oliver-" the sentence wasn't even out of her mouth before Oliver stormed toward his door. He was almost out, when Isabel rushed in.

"Oliver, I need you-"

"Not now!" he practically growled walking around her out the door. Felicity and John shared a look before rushing to catch up to him.

Katie looked up to the ceiling that was now riddled with bullet holes before bringing her eyes back to the men who were huddled in whispers further away.

"What do you think they want?" Ethan whispered over to her and Katie just shrugged not taking her eyes from the men.

"There's nothing from a hospital they can take. They want something out there and to get it they have to keep us in here." Katie whispered back before her eyes looked around to the other hostages. Her eyes stopped on a mother who was crying as she held her child. "We can't say here."

"Maybe if we do what they want then they will just go away." Ethan replied clearly hopeful of that statement.

"Yeah, maybe." Katie replied before spotting one of the hostages, a young woman, holding his thumb that seemed to be bleeding. Without thinking she begins crawling over to him.

"Katie—" Ethan warns, but it's too late.

"Hey!" one of the gunman yells walking over, his gun now pointed at Katie who doesn't stop. "You don't move or I put bullets in you."

"Well you're going to have to shoot me, because I'm not going to let this woman bleed to death." Katie replied tilting her head to see the cause of the bleed. "How did this happen?" the young woman looked scared, her eyes on the gunman. "Hey, look at me." the woman hesitantly turned her attention back to Katie. "How did this happen?"

"I—I was uh, chopping vegetables." the woman replied.

"Alright, you're going to need stitches right away so this doesn't get infected ok?" The woman only nodded before Katie looked back the man pointing the gun at her. "She needs stitches."

"I don't care, now get back to your spot before I shoot you."

"If her hand is not treated it's going to lead to lots of bad things including, but not limited to, death." Katie replied looking down to the woman's thumb. "It won't take me longer than ten minutes, and then after that I will sit in my spot and let whatever crime you three are committing commence."

"What do you need?" the gun man asked and Katie looked up to him.

"I need to move her to exam room- "

"No one's leaving this waiting area, so tell me what you need and I will bring it to you." he growled and Katie just nodded before listing off the supplies she needed before the gun man sent one of his partners off to go get them.

"What are you doing?" the young woman whispered and Katie met her eyes with a small smile.

"My job." Katie replied.

In usual team Arrow fashion, Oliver, John and Felicity would go to the foundry and think up a plan to help Katie and the rest of the hostages. As always when it came to Katie, Oliver just wasn't thinking clearly and so he ordered for John to take them to the hospital. When they arrived, Oliver was about to step out, but he turned to John and Felicity.

"I want you two back at the foundry. I need eyes inside that hospital or alternate routes inside."

"What are you going to do?"

"Figure out who these people are and what they want." Oliver replied before opening his car door and stepping out.

"Oliver!" Felicity called and Oliver stopped and looked back to her. "We're going to get her back. Don't do anything stupid."

Oliver let out a breath, but nodded before closing the door. When he stepped out of the car, Oliver's eyes widened at the crowd of people, police and reporters that seemed to hover around. He lifted his eyes to the hospital, and couldn't help but think it look slightly dark on the inside. His eyes scanned the crowd, and he was met with a familiar face that he quickly ran over to.

"Detective Lance!" Oliver called running over to the man.

"Officer Lance, Queen." the man grumbles as he scans the crowd. "I knew you'd be here sooner or later." the officer turns back to the man. "She must be in there." Oliver glances over to the hospital once again and only nods. "Well then we better figure this all out before she decides to try and play the hero."

Katie sits, focused on the stitching of the woman's thumb, ignoring the man with a gun now sitting and watching her closely.

"There's something familiar about you hero." the gunman says with a tilted head as he looks at Katie. "Have we met before?"

"Seeing as we haven't met now, I can't really answer that question." Katie replies not even glancing over to the man.

"I know I've seen you somewhere." the man mutters and then it hits him. "Wait, you're—" he stands to his feet and walks over to her, ignoring the whimpers of the hostages around before squatting beside her. "You're the rich girl who decided to save the Glades." Katie didn't reply, but the man just nodded. "Yeah, it is you. You're like friends with Oliver Queen, and I think I read somewhere that you're sleeping with Bruce Wayne." his hand reached out and pushed some hair from her face, which caused her to stop moving. "You must got something nice under those scrubs hero." Katie turned a darkened eye to the man.

"You want to find out?" she spat.

"I would love to, but maybe later." the man stands to his feet and walks back over sit where he can watch her. "Hey boys, looks like we have a celebrity in our mist." the other two gun men walk over to stand beside their leader and watch as Katie continues to stitch the woman's thumb. "I think that should get the whole police force involved, don't you think?" Katie lifted her head slightly, but she didn't turn to them. A question was now playing in her head when she realized they actually wanted the police here.

Oliver sifted through the crowds, his eyes on the hospital trying to find any way for him to get inside. He overheard one of the cops saying that the building's lock down procedure had been activated, but not by hospital security. There had yet to be any demands made and so there was nothing to do but wait until some negotiator showed up.

"Ollie!" a familiar voice yelled his name and Oliver turned to see Thea and Roy who instantly ran over to him. "Have you heard from Twinkie?" Oliver shook his head before looking back over to the hospital. "So she is in there?"

"Yeah," Oliver replied before turning back to his sister and placing his hands on her shoulders. "But don't worry, she's going to be fine."

"Have you heard anything about how they're going to get them out?" Roy asked and Oliver shook his head.

"There's a negotiator coming, so I guess he's the one who will figure that part out." Oliver replied when he spotted a car pull up. A tall man, about his age stepped out, buttoning his blazer as he walked over to Lance. "Which I assume is him." Thea and Roy followed his eyes as they watched the man and Lance walk over to a large van and step inside.

"What now?"

"You should get out of here." Oliver says turning to his sister.

"I'm not leaving, this is Katie, she's family!"

"Thea listen to me, I know you're worried and I know you're scared, but I promise you that Katie's coming out of there, but you shouldn't-"

"I'm staying Ollie, so you can save your breath." Thea replied before turning to her boyfriend. "C'mon, lets see if someone will tell us something." she grabbed Roy's hand and began pulling him before he could even speak.

"Don't worry, I got her." Roy replied back to Oliver who just nodded. Oliver turned and began walking toward the police truck in hopes of overhearing any new information. He was only halfway there, when his cell phone rang. He glanced down to see Felicity's name, and quickly brought the phone to his ear.

"Do you got something?"

"Yeah, I got a lot actually, just not sure what it means." Felicity replied. "According to the call that came into SCPD, three men wearing gas masks came into hospital with guns and forced everyone in the emergency waiting room to the floor."

"And then what?"

"And then I don't know. The security system was hacked, disarming all cameras and activating the hospital lock down protocol."

"Who made the call to the police?"

"The hospital's security company, Pendulum, made the call as soon as the systems were hacked." Felicity replied. "Oliver, I was able to get the video feed before it was shut off. Our gunmen are all wearing masks, so facial recon can't ID them, but there are only three of them and they're all packing some heavy artillery."

"Is Katie with the hostages?" Oliver asked turning back to hospital.

"Yes" Felicity replied. "She didn't do anything though, which is weird right? Three guys, she could take three guys."

"She probably could, but doing that shows the world that she's not just a doctor. I doubt she'll hold on too much longer."

"What do you mean?"

"If she feels those people's lives are in danger, then she's not going to care how the rest of the world see's her. Have you found me a way in yet?"

"I think so. I could hack the security system again and undo whatever these guys did, but there's a problem. Once I flip that switch, everything comes back on and the world sees Oliver Queen whose not supposed to be there."

Oliver's eyes were fixed on that building as he mulled over Felicity's words and all of their possible consequences.

"Protecting my identity is not worth more than saving those people's lives. Flip the switch."

Katie bandaged the woman's hand, before she was told to return back to her spot on the wall. Her eyes stayed on the masked man who sat staring down to her.

"So what's the play here?" Katie finally asked.

"The play?"

"What do you want out of all of this. At some point the police are going to call and they're going to ask you what you want and you're going to say...?" she pointed to him for an answer.

"We don't want anything." he replied with a slight chuckle before looking over to one of his partners who still stood in front of his laptop. "You want anything?" the partner simply shook his head and so the leader turned to his other partner who stood close to the door. "What about you?"

"I could use some pizza, I'm starving."

"Well there you go hero." the leader says turning back to Katie. "We want pizza." he continued to laugh and Katie just shook her head when suddenly the phone at the nursing station began ringing. Everyone's head turned, and the room fell into silence. The leader turns to Katie and points at her.

"Get up hero."

"Why?" Katie asked not moving, and the man stood to his feet and pointed his gun at her.

"Because I said so." he ordered. Katie's darkened eyes went from the gun, to the masked man holding it before standing to her feet. The man grabbed her arm and pulled her around the desk to the ringing phone. "Answer it." Katie looked at him for a moment." I said answer it." she reached for the receiver about to answer. "Speaker." he added and Katie sighed before pressing the button.

_"Hello?"_ a male voice spoke from the phone. _"Someone there?" _the masked man looked over to Katie and nodded for her to speak.

"Yes, I'm here."

"_Who am I speaking to?" _

"My name is Doctor Katherine Robins?"

_"Dr. Robins, I'm Detective Henry Carver. Are you and the other hostages alright?" _

Katie lifted her head to the people sitting in the waiting room scared for their lives.

"We're scared, but we're fine." Katie replied glancing over to the masked man.

_"How many men are there?"_

Katie looked over to the masked man who just shook his head. Katie let out a deep sigh before looking back down to the phone.

"I can't answer." hoping the detective caught her little code three word answer.

_"Alright, can I speak to who ever is in charge?"_

Katie once again looked over to the masked man who simply pointed a finger to her.

"I'm who you speak to I guess."

"That's fine. I need to know what they want for this day to end with those people in there getting home to their families."

Katie's eyes turned to the man standing beside her who looked at her and just nodded his head. She rolled her eyes before leaning down to the phone.

"They want pizza."

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah, you heard it right. They want pizza."

The line was silent for a couple of moments and Katie thought the detective had hung up the phone. She glanced over to the leader, who just looked at the phone.

_"Fine, I can do pizza, but I need something in return. I need you to let the hostages go." _

The masked man shook his head and Katie glared at him before looking back down to the phone.

"The answers no."

"My hands are tied if you don't give me nothing. This is how this is going to work. You want something, then you you're going to have to give me something."

Katie looked over to the man, who once again shook his head. She groaned before looking back down to the phone.

"Please hold." she pressed a button and turned to the masked gun man. "Send out the woman and her kid, the elderly man in the corner, and the girl in the fedora.

"No one's going anywhere!"

"That kid has been mentally scarred from this entire thing and I think getting out now may save on some of the therapy he's going to need." Katie said before looking back out to the hostages. "That man, you see how his hand is shaking from his diabetes. He needs insulin, which since you locked us away from the rest of the hospital, I can't give to him." her eyes went to the dark haired girl who wore a pink fedora. "And that girl, you see her breathing heavily, the sweating, she's going into shock." she turns back to the man. "It's three people, and it still leaves you with enough hostages to get what you want." the masked man looks over to the crowd of hostages for a few moments before turning back to Katie.

"You've just thought of everything haven't you hero?" he asks and Katie just stares waiting for his answer. "Fine." he looks over to his partner that stands by the door. "Get the woman and her kid, the old guy and the shifty chick in the weird hat." he looks back to Katie and nods toward the phone. Katie turns and presses the button.

"Alright. there are hostages on their way out right now." Katie lifted her eyes as the man had to pull open the doors wide enough to let the hostages out. Once they were finally out, he let the doors slide back closed.

"I see them. Tell who ever is in charge thank you." the detective said. "Now about those pizzas, any preference?"

After hanging up with the detective, the masked man grabbed Katie's arm and pulled her toward the other hostages once again.

"You mind if I use the bathroom?" she asked before he could push her to her seat. "I've been holding it for a while and if I don't go soon, I'm going on myself." The man looked at her before looking back to the rest of the hostages.

"Anyone else have to use the bathroom?" he asked and practically everyone rose their hand. "Great." he muttered before looking over his partner who stood by the door. "Hey idiot!"

"I thought we discussed not calling me that." the partner replied walking over to him. "What?"

"You're being given an assignment. One where it would be amazing if you fucked it up." The leader pushed Katie toward his partner. "Take her to the bathroom, and then bring her back. That's it. You do that for every last one of them."

"Why do I get the shit work?!" the partner asked angrily.

"Because if you don't, then I will shoot you. Now go and hurry up."

"Fine, c'mon!" the man said jerking Katie's arm and pushing her toward the bathrooms. Katie walked in front of him, a slight smile pricking her lips.

Felicity's eyes darted back and forth across the screen as she worked on trying to access the hospital's security database. John had long gone, deciding to return to the hospital in case he had to talk Oliver out doing something stupid. Suddenly her phone rang, and she growled in annoyance at the interruption. She stopped typing and quickly picked up her phone.

"Oliver, I'm good, but not that good." she answered propping the phone between her ear and shoulder. "I'm still working on-"

_"Felicity it's me."_ a familiar voice spoke and Felicity stopped what she was doing.

"Katie? How are you calling me right now when you're being held hostage."

_"Well our captors are kind of idiots and I'm me."_ Katie replied. Felicity heard a grunt from the other end of the phone. _"I said quiet."_

"What's happening? Who was that?"

_"Idiot number three is what I'm calling him now until you can ID him for me. I'm sending you his picture._" Suddenly an email came to Felicity and when she opened it, she was graced with the sight of a blonde young man, whose face looked like it went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali. _"Did you get it?"_

"Yeah, I got it." Felicity replied grimacing slightly at the sight. "I'm sending it through facial recognition, now. So what's going on in there?"

_"I'm still not sure, but I'm one hundred percent sure this hostage situation is a diversion from something else. Well that is according to what my new friend here told me before he took his nap. Starling National Bank is being robbed at this very moment and absolutely no one knows because they hacked into some security company named-"_

"Let me guess, Pendulum?"

_"How did you know?"_

"It's the same company GMH contracts for their security. I'm accessing the bank's main frame now, and-" Felicity leaned in closer. "There does seem to be some very sketchy code here."

_"Felicity, if no one knows they're there, then they must be doing this very covertly, maybe underground."_

Felicity typed a few keys, bringing up the bank's schematics and looking them over. There are some tunnels that run underneath the bank's vault. With the right tools and-"

_"And the entire police force focusing on some hostage situation at the hospital, stealing from the city's most prestigious bank is a piece of cake. Felicity, call Oliver, tell him to haul ass to that bank."_

"What are you going to do?"

_"I'm going to get these people out of here."_

"How do you do that without giving up the normal doctor image?" Felicity asked and the line went silent for a few moments.

_"At the moment, I don't care._" Katie replied. _"This is what we do no matter the consequences. Call Oliver." And with that the call ended, and the moment it did, Felicity quickly dialed Oliver's number._

Katie looked down to the man who laid on the floor of the bathroom unconscious, before reaching down and grabbing a fist full of his jacket and pulling him from the floor.

"Wake up." she said giving him a slight shake. The man only cracked open his eyes. "You're going to help me get these people out of here."

Oliver hovered near the truck, unable to get too close. He figured he would wait until Detective Lance exited and hoped the man would fill him in on any new information. He felt as if he'd been waiting forever before Lance, and the tall man finally appeared at the door of the truck. They stood and scanned the crowd before both men laid eyes on him. Lance whispered something over to the man before waving for Oliver to come over. Oliver had only taken a single step before his phone rang. He snaked it from his pocket, glancing down to Felicity's number before bringing it to his ear.

"I can't talk now, give me ten minutes." Oliver said before the woman could even speak.

_"Oliver wai—"_ he ended the call and rushed over to the two men.

"Detec—I mean Officer Lance, do you have something?" Oliver asked as the men walked down the steps of the truck to stand in front of him.

"Maybe." Lance replied before looking to the man beside him. "Oliver this is Detective Henry Carver, he's the negotiator that was brought in." Detective Carver took a step forward to shake Oliver's hand.

"Mr. Queen." the man greeted with a firm handshake. "Officer Lance tells me you're close to one of the hostages." Oliver glanced over to Lance who lets out a sigh. "A doctor Robins?" for some reason Oliver expected the worse after that moment, he even slides a hand across his head as the possibilities fill his head.

"Is she-"

"No." Quentin says quickly with a shake of his head. "For the time being she's fine. She's also become the mouth piece for the bastards keeping those people hostage."

"What?"

"How well do you know Dr. Robins?" Carver asked and Oliver turned with a darkened look because he recognize the question that wasn't being asked.

"What are you asking me?" Oliver asked taking a step forward, but Lance quickly caught his arm and pulled him back. "Are you asking me if she's involved with any of this?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why out of all the hostages they have in there, they choose her to talk for them."

"Is he serious?" Oliver asked looking to Lance.

"Look, I have to agree with Queen on this one." Quentin replies turning to Carver. "Robins is a lot of things, but when it comes to this hospital and the work she does in it, nothing compromises that."

"Well I'm going to take your professional opinion very seriously Officer, but I'm going to look into this."

"Sir?" another officer said walking over to Carver with a phone. "The captain wants to speak with you." Carver simply nodded as he took the phone before turning back to Oliver and Lance.

"Gentleman." and with that the man turned and walked off. Oliver turned to Quentin who held up his hands before the man could even start.

"Before you start, just don't."

"Just—" Oliver's fists clenched at his side as he shook his head. "Just get her out of there." and with that the man turned and walking off, only to bump into John. "What are you doing here?"

"You talk to Felicity?"

"Uh, no something came up. Why, did she find a way to get me in?" Oliver asks and John shakes his head.

"Not exactly."

The leader of the masked captors looked down to his watch, now worrying at how long his partner has been with the bathroom trip with the doctor.

"One job, and he fucks it up!" he says standing to his feet before walking over to his partner that hasn't torn his eyes from his laptop since they entered the hospital. "How much longer?"

"They need fifteen minutes and then we're all clear." the man mutters through his mask. "You should go check on the idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." the leader mutters before heading down the hall, his gun in his hand at his side. He stops when he spots his partner coming down the hall limping toward him. "Well it took you long enough." the leader tilts his head slightly noticing something strange. "Where the fuck is the girl?" his partner didn't even get a chance to answer before he suddenly just collapses to the floor. "What the fuck?" he lifts his gun ready to fire as he slowly walks to his partner, dropping down and seeing the blood seeping from under his mask. He lifted his eyes down the empty hallway, about to go search for the woman himself.

"Are you kidding me?!" his second partner yelled and the leader stood to his feet and looked back to the man. The partner turns to the leader and throws up his head. "We're found. Someone just kicked me out of the system and now—" suddenly the lights of the hospital come on and everything seems so bright all of a sudden. The partner's phone rings, and he quickly brings it to his ear. "What—" he lifts his head to the leader who stares in confusion. "Are you kidding me? No, are you fucking kidding me?!" he turns his head slightly. "Wait—hello? Hello?!" he throws the phone to the floor causing it to break into pieces. "They were caught!"

"I'm sorry!?" the leader stormed over to him and grabbed his coat. "What did you just say? It sounded like you just told me they were caught!" he pulls the man to his feet and slams his back against the nursing station. "But that's impossible right, because this plan that you assured me was one hundred percent fool proof couldn't possibly have been fucked up! You said the cops-"

"It wasn't the cops." the partner says pushing the leader back. "It was the fucking vigilante. Look, we need to get out of here now. Like right fucking now!"

"Wait, wait." the leader says turning and pacing slightly. "We still have a room full of hostages, that has to get us something, right?"

"Look, we can't—" before a word could even be spoken, the sprinkler system activated, and water rained down on everyone heavily. "What the hell is going—" The doors to the ER slid open and their eyes looked from them, to the hostages that noticed as well.

"No one moves!" the leader snaps angrily to the hostages. "If anyone even thinks—" there were footsteps from behind them, and he turned just in time to see Katie swing an IV stand, knocking his partner to the floor. Before the leader could even raise his gun, she swung the stand hitting him right in the neck, before she slid it underneath his legs, knocking him off his feet.

"Everyone move now!" Katie yells tossing the stand and running over to other hostages. Without needing to be told twice, the few hostages stood to their feet and ran for the door. "Make sure to keep your hands up, and don't stop running."

"You're so marrying me after this." Ethan says placing his hands on Katie's shoulders. "You're one badass—"

"Don't move!" Ethan and Katie turned to see a gun aimed at them held by a man no longer wearing a mask. "You think you can mess with me and get away with it!"

"There are cops that are going to be running in here in seconds. You're caught, so this is pointless." Katie says as her and Ethan raise their hands. "No one's dead, so you want to change that then you should be prepared to be in a prison cell for a very long time."

"I'm already going away for a long time hero." the man replies his finger practically twitching on the trigger. "What's a little more?" Their eyes are drawn to the gun once again, before Katie takes a step forward.

Oliver wished the distance between Starling National Bank and Glades Memorial Hospital was closer than what it was. But it wasn't, and so he cursed the fact the entire time he sped down back routes trying to get there unseen. The Arrow was a figure of the night, the darkness helped keep his identity safe, but it was full day light at the moment and anyone close enough would know it was him. Oliver arrived at the meeting spot quicker than he anticipated, but he didn't even think about it as he hopped off his bike and practically ran past John onto the van that was parked. After changing back into his suit, Oliver jumped from the van about to head over to the car, when John grabbed his shoulder. Oliver turned with a glare at the man stopping his momentum, but all John did was hold up a handkerchief.

"Unless you want these people to think your life is more interesting then what it is." John says pointing to the man's eyes that are still dark from the face paint. Oliver didn't say anything before snatching the handkerchief from John's hand and turning back to his car before stepping inside and speeding off.

When Oliver arrived at the hospital, he was immediately struck with the sight of people who seemed to be soaked, running out of the hospital. He quickly stepped from the car, before sifting through the crowd of on lookers hoping to see Katie emerge from the building as well. When he finally reached the police barrier, he watched as seamlessly the last person escaped and it wasn't her. Oliver's jaw clenched as he placed his hands on the metal fence the police had set up to keep the onlookers from getting too close. He was about to jump it and run into that building, when the sound of a gun shot stopped everything. Oliver stood frozen as he watched police in tactical gear all run inside.

Oliver dropped his head and closed his eyes as everything around him seemed to crumble. He could feel it in this moment. Just how much the woman on the inside of that building meant to him. The moment he heard that gun shot he felt a part of him die.

"Wait!" a voice cried crowd. "There they are!" Oliver heard that before opening his eyes and jerking up his head up to see Katie and Ethan being lead out the doors with blankets tossed over their shoulders. She didn't see him when she came out the doors, and she didn't seem to be looking either. Her head seemed to be looking down to the ground, and there was something...something off. That much he could tell from even where he stood. He began walking toward where ever they were leading her to, which to his surprise was the back of a patrol car. Oliver took a step forward about to find out what the hell was happening, when a hand grabbed his shoulder to stop him. When he turned he was met with Detective Lance.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked immediately. "Where are they taking her?"

"Calm down, they're just getting her out of here before the media can eat her alive. They're taking her to the station to get her statement and then she can go home. Just—"Oliver was already walking around the man and rushing to his car.

Oliver soon realized that he isn't a very patient person as he paced back and forth in the police station. He kept glancing over to the door that lead to the other offices every time it opened in hopes that it would be Katie, but for the last hour it wasn't. The door had opened once again and Oliver stopped only for another unfamiliar face to emerge. His patience was now at it's end and so he decided he would just go inside and ask a couple of questions. His feet had only gotten half way there before he was stopped.

"I wouldn't Ollie!" a voice called stopping him. He turned to see Laurel walking over to him. "Still impatient I see."

"She's been in there forever. What could they possibly be talking about for that long?" Oliver said, glancing over his shoulder at the door. Laurel watched him closely, at the nervousness and anticipation that was written all over his face and it annoyed her to no end at the source of such a reaction.

"Twinkie is fine Oliver." Laurel replied as he turned back to her. "She does seem to get herself into situations like this quite often, doesn't she?"

"Laurel don't—"

"But it's true right?" The woman asked as Oliver shook his head turning away from her. "Ever since her return from Doctor's Without Borders, it's been one strange event after the other with her." she glanced around before taking a step closer to him. "You know I looked into her and—"

"You what?"

"Will you just listen before you get all judgmental. I looked into her time away, and I found something." Laurel took out her cell phone and swiped a few times before turning it to him. Oliver sighed glancing down to her phone, only to see the familiar image of the missing poster with Katie's face on it. "Three years Oliver, no one knew where she was or who she was with, and then one day she just magically reappears. That's suspicious and you can't tell me that it's not." Oliver's eyes stayed on the screen, and Laurel noticed how he didn't give the reaction she expected. "Wait, did you know?" Oliver met her eyes.

"Yeah, I did and it's not suspicious, it's actually pretty sad. Just let this go Laurel." The door behind him once again opened, and Oliver turned in time to see a familiar face, only it wasn't the one he wanted to see. "Ethan-" the doctor looked over to Oliver before walking over. He had changed from his scrubs into a SCPD tshirt and sweat pants. "Are you alright?"

"That was by far the most fucked up situation I have ever been in." the man replied with a shake of his head. "Did you hear that they only kept us in there so they could distract the police from a bank robbery."

"I think I heard something about that." Oliver said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but our city's awesome arrow wielding badass caught the bitches, and my future wife, Katherine Robins saved our asses in that hospital."

"What happened in there?" that was Laurel who took a step forward to stand beside Oliver. "What did she do?"

"I'm still not even completely sure, the sprinklers were on, so everything wasn't even that clear, but I saw her knock one of the guys out with an IV stand, before doing the same to the other guy. That's when she told everyone to run out."

"There was a gun shot after the hostages were out." Oliver asked, remembering the dread he felt when he heard that sound. Ethan simply began to laugh, gaining very confused looks from Oliver and Laurel. He noticed the looks and knew he should probably explain himself.

"That asshat missed." Ethan replied still laughing. "And then he looked so dumbfounded it was just hilarious. Then my future wife, did this cool move where she knocked the gun from his hand before kneeing him in the gut, knocking the bastard to the floor whimpering like a baby." Ethan's phone suddenly rang and he snagged it from his pocket. "Shit, it's my mom, I have to take this." he looked up to Oliver who simply nodded before the man walked away.

"Oliver-"

"Laurel just stop." Oliver says turning back to the woman. "You don't like her, fine, but I do. Actually—" he smiles a bit when he realizes that it's time he told Laurel the truth. "Actually it's more than that. Laurel I love her and—"

"I'm sorry, did you just say love? Ollie, don't you think all of this is just moving a little too fast. I mean you don't even know this woman."

"I do, but you don't know her and you probably should before you start making accusations without any factual basis." Laurel looked with a slight frown, but she didn't say anything figuring nothing else she said would make any difference at he moment. Once again the door behind them opened and Oliver instantly turned a smile coming to his lips when he finally sees her. She meets his eyes with a small smile, that drops when she looks over to Laurel. After a moment she turns back to Oliver.

"Hi, so I had an interesting day at work today."

"I heard." Oliver says taking a step toward her and placing a hand on her waist. "I'm taking you home now." She nods letting him pull her to his side as he wraps an arm around her and she drops her head to his shoulder. Oliver sends a silent nod to Laurel before walking with Katie onto the elevator. The pair rides in silence for a few moments, as Oliver grasp around her waist is firm and the hand she has on his chest is unmoving. "Are you alright?"

"No," Katie answered honestly unable to lift her eyes to his. She felt his grasp tighten, and she sighed. "They should be dead. I could've ended them and I would've been totally justified."

"But you didn't."

"I didn't and I regret it." she finally lifted her eyes to him. "It's him. It's Ra's, in my head telling me that I failed. When I let them go and I let them get away, I failed." she dropped her eyes from him once again.

"I think the opposite happened." Oliver replied placing a kiss to the top of her head before pulling away slightly and turning her to face him. "I think you beat him. You made the choice and that's just what it was. Your choice. You're in control and in that case, you didn't fail. You succeeded." Oliver placed his hands on the sides of her face and smiled as he looked down into her eyes for a few moments as he feels the anxiety of the day slipping away. "You saved a lot of people today."

"Well I work with a hero, it was bound to rub off at some point." Katie replied to which Oliver laughed before dropping his lips to meet hers. The kiss seemed to take on life of it's own as both Oliver and Katie seem to pour emotions that had been building through the day, into this one kiss. Neither heard the elevator doors open behind them, but they did hear the subtle sound of someone's throat clearing behind them and so they pulled apart, their breaths ragged as they look up to each other with a look both recognized. It's a look that leads to the next step that both want to go, but when it's time and now even though everything inside of them wants it to happen, they decide to wait. Oliver takes Katie's hand in his hand and leads her off the elevator, muttering apologies as they walked.

When they arrived back to Katie's home, Katie opened her door, but stopped to not let Oliver inside, which obviously confused the man.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You can't come in now." Katie replied with a sigh. He's still staring at her with those eyes that feel like they can see all of her. "I can't let you in now."

"Ok, why?"

"Because I—" she bites the corner of her lip before dropping her eyes and shaking her head. "This is ridiculous." she brings her eyes back to his. "Today was very stressful and hectic and lot of other things and right now all I want is...you." Oliver smiled about to lean forward to bring his arms around her, but she took a step back, placing a hand on his chest. "That step is a big step, and I want—" she met his eyes. "We climbed it and it went bad, and now we have another chance and I want to make sure it's right."

"I told you I'm here." Oliver's hand wrapped around her waist, which only clouded her head even more, making it very hard to stay strong and resists the man's charm. "I'm not leaving."

"I know." Katie replies with a firm nod. "I know and I believe you, I just—" Katie dropped her eyes trying to formulate a coherent thought. "I'm a train wreck and I don't think you know that. I will mess this up and-"

"Stop talking please." Oliver interrupted before slamming his lips against hers. When they needed air once again, they pulled apart, but Oliver dropped his head to rest on hers. "You're not—" Oliver's phone suddenly rang, and Katie was a bit relieved at the interruption. "I'm not answering it."

"Yeah—" Katie says reaching inside his jacket to pluck his phone from his pocket. "You are because if it's the devil woman, you know she won't stop." Oliver let out an annoyed growl before bringing the phone to his ear with one hand, while keeping the other planted on her waist.

"Can't we just—" he nudged his head in the door and Katie just shook her head. He sighed before finally answering the phone."Yes Isabel." the woman was once again yelling and Oliver turned to Katie with a smile as he ignored most of what the woman was saying. "That's not happening, I'm not coming in today." there was more yelling that followed, but Oliver continued to stare in to Katie's eyes, his hand now mindlessly sliding across her waist, hoping to coax her into letting him inside. "Have you even turned on the news? No, it wasn't—what do you mean this could mean my company's survival?" Katie placed a hand on Oliver's chest.

"Just go." she whispered and she could see from the look in his eyes that was the last thing he wanted to do. Honestly it was the last thing she wanted him to do, but if he left then she wouldn't be so tempted to finally tell him the entire truth about her father.

"Fine, no I said fine, I'm coming in." he quickly ended the call, sliding the phone back into his pocket before looking back to Katie. "She's probably being manipulative to get me to come in."

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's the Queen Dynasty you're at the helm of, so you may have to do some things you don't like sometimes."

"Yeah, like leave my girlfriend who was just held hostage for the better part of the day." Oliver said, dipping his head about to kiss her, only for Katie to pull back. "What?"

"Girlfriend?" Oliver smiled slightly as he pulled back. "Is that what I am?"

"Well if it's alright with you." Oliver replied. "I mean I would've wrote one of those notes and had you circle yes or no, but I didn't have the time. What do you say?" Katie turned away in thought, and Oliver thought she was just trying to be funny. It had been a couple of moments when he noticed the genuine hesitation cross her face and that’s when he realized that this wasn't as easy a question for her as it was for him. "Unless you don't want to?" she turned back to him before a smile tugged at her lips.

"Sorry, I was just imagining what Laurel's face would look like when she found out." she grabbed his lapels and brought his lips close to hers. "I'll be your girlfriend as long as you will be my boyfriend."

"Those are reasonable terms doctor." Oliver said against her lips. Once again the kiss went from zero to one hundred, and Oliver actually began moving them into the house to which Katie threw out a hand to the door sill to stop them. "You're being impossible."

"Maybe, but I still need something first. I don't know what, but when I do, you will know." Katie says before pecking his lips in another kiss. "Now go to your devil woman." she backed up into the house.

"I'm going to call you."

"I know."

"You're going to answer."

"I know that too."

"Did you know that I love you?" Oliver asked and Katie laughed. "Is that what you were looking for?"

"No, but I love you too. Now go before she starts calling me." Katie says giving the man a wave before closing her door.

"I will figure it out Twinkie!" Oliver called through the door.

"I'm sure you will!" she called back through laughter.

Oliver smiled turning back to walk to his car. The smile slowly faded as he thought of the place he was going and the woman he had to see. Oliver had just reached the sidewalk, when another car pulled up in front of him. When the tinted window slid down, a dark glare washed over the man's face at the person behind the wheel.

"Why are you here?"

"We need to talk."

"I don't think you and I have anything to say to each other. And I definitely don't think you should be in front of her house right now. You need to get out of my city and go back to Gotham." Oliver had to restrain himself from stalking over to the car, because he knows if he did, he'd probably do something very drastic.

"And I will once I know she's safe." Bruce says before stepping out of his car and walking around the the trunk. "Come here." Oliver didn't move and Bruce let out an annoyed sigh was he opened his trunk. "Trust me you're going to want to see this." Against Oliver's better judgment, he walked over and when he did he as met with the sight of an unconscious man tied up in the trunk. From the clothing, Oliver knew it was a member of the league. He looked over to Bruce who shook his head before pulling the trunk of the car closed.

"Where did he come from?"

"I found him skulking in the shadows around the house last night." Bruce says turning to Oliver.

"Why? I thought they were only after Sara?"

"They were never only after Sara." Bruce says looking over to Katie's house. "I think it's time I tell you the complete story. The one even she doesn't know."


	9. COUNTING DOWN

**Chapter 9**

**COUNTING DOWN**

_"A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials."  
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca_

* * *

There was this strange tightness in Oliver's chest the moment he opened his eyes this morning. He tried to ignore it and tell himself it was all in his head, but ever so often it would stop him. It would stop him and he'd have to just breathe. Just like now as he stood in the bathroom, staring at himself in the mirror after stepping out of the shower. A deep breath escaped his lungs and once again the tightness subsided.

Oliver turned and walked from his bathroom into his conjoining bedroom, straight for the closet. He plucked one of his many suits and walked it over, lying it on the bed. That's when he noticed the black purse sitting on his bed. He let his eyes wander, also noticing a woman's jacket on his chair.

"Twinkie?" he spoke heading for the door, but accidentally bumping the side of his bed and knocking her purse to the floor. Oliver walked over to pick it up, noticing that the purse had popped open and some of it's contents had spilled out. He was about to reach down and pick it up, when he noticed something among the contents. "What the hell?" he bent down and picked up a pill bottle, reading it's name. He had no idea what the pills were for, but he was definitely going to find out. He walked around to grab his cell phone that sat on his bedside table, before dialing a familiar number.

_"Oliver, hey."_ whispered a familiar voice.

"Felicity?" Oliver replied suspiciously. "Why are you whispering?"

_"I'm not, I'm just not...talking loudly."_ she replied and Oliver suddenly decided to let it go. _"What's up? Is everything alright?"_

"Yeah, I need a favor. I need you to look up something for me." he held up the pill bottle. "Modafinil."

_"Why does that name sound familiar."_ Felicity muttered more to herself. _"What's this about?"_

"I'm not sure yet, just text me when you know something."

_"Sure."_ Felicity replied before ending the call.

Felicity looked down to the slip of paper she'd just written on, before sitting it on the coffee table. She picked up her mug of coffee before looking back to the man who was currently sleeping on her couch. Or at least she thought he was sleeping.

"This gets weirder every time you do it Ms. Smoak." came the rough voice of Bruce Wayne, who opened his eyes and glanced up to the woman with a tired smile.

"Well, after two weeks, I'm still finding it difficult to believe that a billionaire would rather sleep on my couch than in some luxurious hotel." Felicity replied before bringing her mug to her lips. "You ever going to tell me what's going on?"

"Why do you think something is going on?" Bruce asked finally sitting up from the couch to let Felicity sit beside him. The woman stared at him with a quirked brow before moving to sit beside him on the couch. "Why can't I come visit a friend and crash on her couch."

"Because you're you, and I'm not an idiot." Felicity replied with a bright smile. "You're hiding something Mr. Wayne, and I'm a good investigator." she narrowed her eyes at him. "I will be watching you."

"You know you say that like it's a bad thing." Bruce replied and Felicity couldn't help but smile as she turned away to grab the slip of paper before standing to her feet. "What's that?"

"You have your secrets, and I have mine." Felicity sang as she walked around the couch. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get ready for work." Bruce watched the woman, until she disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her before reaching forward and picking up his phone, and accessing the video feed of the league assassin still tied up.

Oliver looked down to the purse in his hand as he walked down the stairs of the mansion. He didn't want to overreact about the pills, but he had the sinking feeling that whatever Felicity told him wasn't going to be good. He glanced around, still not seeing Katie or his sister as he walked down the hall. When he reached the kitchen, he pushed open the door where he finally found them. Katie was standing beside Thea who sat at the kitchen table, with her head leaning into to Katie's side. He noticed Katie's hand gently rubbing across Thea's back and he let out out a sigh knowing this day was extremely hard for his sister.

"Everything is going to be alright." Katie whispered before placing a kiss on top of Thea's head. She turned finally seeing Oliver, a small smile coming to her lips. "Hey."

"When did you get here?" Oliver asked walking over to her to hand her the purse.

"Thanks. Not too long ago. I went up to your room, but you were in the shower, so I thought I would find some coffee." she noticed a strange look in his eyes, and placed a hand on his arm. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm still a little nervous." Oliver replied pulling away from her, before walking around her to get some coffee as well. Katie turned following him with her eyes. Something was going on with the man, that much she noticed ever since the incident at the hospital. She was afraid it was because of her insistence on them taking things slow, but she truly didn't want to believe that. She then guessed that maybe the trial today was the reason for the sudden mood change. Katie looked between both Oliver and Thea who both wore very glum expressions.

"Anyone want to hear a joke?" Katie asked suddenly gaining looks from both siblings.

"No," they both answered.

"Fine, but it was a good one." Katie sighed before walking back over to her own seat and picking up her coffee. Soon John was ringing the doorbell, letting them know that it was time to finally go to the courthouse. Katie went to open the door, the moment she did a frown came to her face. "You look horrible."

"I'm fine." John says with a slight cough. "Everyone ready to go?" Katie simply nodded still watching the man closely.

"John, seriously you look like you're about to pass out." Katie says reaching up and placing a palm on his head. "You should be at home."

"Fine, I will, after I get you all to the courthouse." John replies lifting his head as Oliver and Thea walk over. "We ready to go?" Oliver simply nodded before John turned and headed for the car. Thea headed out first, as Oliver took a step to stand beside Katie.

"He's sick." Katie spoke already answering the question she knew was on Oliver's mind. She looked over to the man, about to walk back into the house, but he held up her purse in front of her. "Thank you Mr. Queen."

"You're welcome, doctor." he replied bringing an arm around her and leading her to the car.

The nerves inside Oliver seemed to multiply during that ride, as they neared the courthouse. He kept his hand wrapped firmly around his sister, knowing he had to be strong for her. When he glanced over, he noticed the grasp Katie had on Thea's hand. Oliver's head was in so many different places at the moment, and one of those places was the story told to him by Bruce. He's still not sure what to make of the story, and until he does, this will be one time he doesn't mind Bruce being in his city.

When they finally arrived at the courthouse, they looked out to the crowd of reporters covering the steps. Oliver turned to his sister who looked out in horror at the scene.

"Don't worry, I'm right here, alright?" Oliver said and Thea turned to him and just nodded. He glanced over to Katie who also looked out the window with a look of nervousness before looking to him. "Stay close to me." she nodded as well before Oliver turned and knocked on the window, signaling to John that they were ready.

When the door finally opened, they were hit with an explosion of camera flashes, that made them drop their eyes as they walked. Thea walked sandwiched between Oliver and Katie, as they sifted through the crowd of reporters who shouted questions at them. They all ignored the questions, until Katie heard a mention of her father.

"Ms. Robins, is it true that your father may have also been involved in the destruction of the Glades." came a voice from somewhere in the crowd. Katie stopped about to turn, but she felt a hand on her back and looked over to Oliver who shook his head subtly. She just nodded before continuing their sprint inside the courthouse. Once inside, the barrage of reporters didn't stop.

"Everyone alright?!" John called as they climb the stairs toward the courtroom still trying to weave through the crowd of reporters.

"We're fine, but you're looking worse every time I look at you." Katie said from beside the man. "Go home, get some rest, that's an order." she gave the man a pat on the shoulder before she, Oliver and Thea hurried into the courtroom.

Katie hadn't been to many trials in her life, which she would say was a good thing. She sat and listened to District Attorney Donner drag Moira's name through the mud, trying to convince the jury that the woman sitting in front of them was a monster. Katie turned her eyes to Moira, who still was able to sit up straight, the words being said about her not even making her flinch. Oliver's hand was intertwined with hers, resting on her lap and she could feel his grasp tighten ever so often as he listened to the harsh words of the DA about his mother.

"...true, she had second thoughts; Remorse which compelled her to deliver this statement. But on behalf of the 503 lives that were extinguished that day, I say, Moira Queen, your remorse comes too late." and with that the DA, gave a nod to the jury before heading to his seat. Katie heard a light vibration coming from her purse, and she quickly snagged it out, glancing down to see who was calling her.

"Everything alright?" Oliver leaned over and whispered and Katie turned to him.

"It's the hospital." she replied looking back to her phone.

"I thought you had the day off?"

"I do, but if they're calling then something must be wrong." she looked up in time to see Moira's attorney stand to her feet. Katie turned back to Oliver, with an obvious apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Oliver asked and Katie shook her head.

"No, I'll grab a cab. Stay here with you mother and sister and call me to let me know what's happening alright?" Oliver simply nodded before placing a chaste kiss to her lips, before she stood to her feet and hurried for the door. The moment she stepped outside the courtroom doors, she was bombarded with waiting reporters who instantly tossed out more questions as she ran down the stairs already dialing Rebecca's number.

When she reached the outside, she hurried toward the curb and threw up a hand for a cab, when the there was finally answered.

"Becks, it's me what's going on?"

_"I don't know, but I have a hospital full of sick people, and I don't know why."_ Rebecca replied, her voice filled with obvious exhaustion. _"I'm sorry, I know it's your day off, but I need all hands on deck."_

"I'm on my way." Katie says just as a cab pulls up in front of her.

When Katie stepped through the doors of the ER, her eyes went wide. Rebecca was right, there were people everywhere. The waiting room was full and they even had to bring in more chairs to fit people.

"Thank goodness you're here." came a voice and Katie turned to see Ethan who looked completely worn out. "Can you believe this shit?"

"Do they know what's happening, yet?" Katie says already heading toward the locker rooms to get changed.

"No idea, the lab is still processing some blood samples and we're supposed to know as soon as they do." Ethan replied walking behind her into the locker room. He collapsed into one of the chairs, letting out a deep sigh. "I hope this isn't some kind of epidemic, with this city, the moment it's even mentioned on the news, people are going to be running in here whether they have it or not."

"Let's just hope it's something simple like a different kind of chicken pox." Katie replied pulling out her scrubs. She was about to go change when her cell phone rang. She quickly answered guessing it may be Oliver with news on the trial. "Hello?" it wasn't Oliver, it was Felicity. "Felicity, I'm at work right now, what's-" John was sick. Really sick, and had even passed out. "When?" Katie was already tossing her scrubs back into her locker and gathering her things. "I'm on my way." she ended the call and looked down to Ethan who stared at her in confusion. "I have to go."

"I'm sorry." the man said jumping to his feet. "I don't think I heard that right, because it sounded like you said that you were leaving after witnessing the shit storm we're currently in here."

"My friend may have whatever this is and-"

"Well we're a hospital, tell him to come here!" Ethan snapped, just as Rebecca came into the locker room.

"Good, you're here." the woman said.

"Don't be relieved yet Becks, because she's leaving apparently."

"What are you talking about?" Rebecca asked glancing from Ethan to Katie. "What is he talking about?"

"I won't be long, but I need to go check on a friend of mine-"

"Did you not see my hospital!" the woman snapped angrily, taking a step toward Katie. This was a side that many didn't see of the woman, and Katie couldn't blame her for it happening now. "I hired you to be a doctor, if you can't do the job I hired you for then maybe this isn't the job for you. You can't pick and choose when this is your life and when it's not. Either you're here or you're not." Katie stood there looking between the man and woman in front of her thinking only for a moment on the ultimatum in front of her.

"Well then I'm sorry." was all Katie said before slipping past Ethan and Rebecca out of the locker room. She rushed down the halls, glancing over once again to the waiting room full of people before slipping out the sliding doors.

Katie tried not to think too much on the decision she just made and all of it's implications. Instead she focused on getting to the foundry. Once she arrived, she hurried through the back entrance, instantly laying eyes on John who seemed to be lying down on the table, groaning in pain.

"I knew something was wrong." Katie says dropping her things and walking around the table. She places a hand to John's cheek. He's warm, but he's shivering with a blanket wrapped around him. She looks over to Felicity's who has an arm wrapped around his shoulder in hopes of comforting him. "How long has he been like this?"

"For the past hour. He showed up at the office and passed out. I didn't know what else to do, but bring him here." Felicity took a step back as Katie walked over, placing her hands on the sides of John's face.

"I'm going to need a blood sample to try and determine what this is." Katie says reaching into her bag and pulling out a small flash light.

"I'm already ahead of you." Felicity replied coming to the woman's side. "When Dig passed out, I sent a sample of his blood to a chemist I know at QC. The guy owes me a favor. Long story, I fixed his parking ticket." Felicity turned away in thought. "Huh. I guess it's not that long."

"Smoaks!" Katie says and the woman turns back quickly. "The sample, what did it say?" Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of quick foot steps interrupted and both women turned to see Oliver moving down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"

"I called him too." Felicity replied with a shrug. "I just thought everyone should be in the know about this."

"What happened?" Oliver asked moving to Katie's other side to look down to John.

"I was just about to find out." Katie replied turning back to Felicity. "The blood sample?"

"Right. It came back positive for trace amounts of Vertigo." Felicity said and they all looked down to John.

"I never used vertigo before in my life." John says defensively looking up to Katie who just nods.

"Well somehow you were exposed to it." Katie says looking over to Oliver whose jaw clenches. The Count was a name many people knew, including the people in this room. Oliver chose not kill the man after his drug nearly hurt his sister, and it would seem now that decision was biting him in the ass. "Hey-" she placed a hand on his arm.

"I'm fine, just thinking." Oliver says.

"Liver-"

"Don't. I made the decision not to put an arrow in him and I still believe it was the right decision." Oliver replies turning and plucking an arrow from the the wall, before bringing it back to Katie. It wasn't until it was close did she see a green liquid in a vile attached. "I worked this up to counteract vertigo. Give it to Dig." Katie simply nods taking the arrow before Oliver looks over to Felicity. "See if you can find out how John got vertigo into his system without his knowledge."

"Alright." Felicity nods before walking over to one of her computers. Oliver turned back to Katie and places a kiss to her cheek before turning, but he stops and turns to her with a puzzled look.

"I thought you got a call from the hospital?" he asks and Katie just shakes her head, taking a step closer to Oliver.

"I did, but I got a call from Felicity." she whispered not wanting John to hear that she left work to check on him.

"Twinkie-"

"Liver, it was my decision. He's my friend and I am here to make sure he's alright." Katie said and Oliver sighed before placing another kiss to her cheek, but before he could pull back she grabbed the lapels of his jacket to stop him. "How's the trial going?" Oliver just shook his head slightly and Katie sighed. "It's not over. Just remember that."

"When this is all over, I am going to take you on that date." Oliver says.

"Well here's hoping." Katie replies placing a hand on his cheek, before turning and walking over to John. Oliver stands there for a moment, looking at his friend lying on a table, his jaw once again clenching at the thought of vertigo being behind this. He shakes his head before turning and rushing up the stairs. "Alright John, I usually don't administer anything I don't know." she looked at the green liquid in the injector. "But since this whole vertigo thing was before my time here in Starling, I am just going to have to hope this works." turns back to the man who looks at the arrow warily, before meeting her eyes. "Let's hopes this works."

Katie spent the the time after giving the antidote just pacing back and forth, her eyes glancing over to John, who against her suggestion decided to sit up. She listened to the news playing of how DA William Donner collapsed in court. Her mind was working over times trying to figure out how John, and the DA, and all those people at GMH suddenly had vertigo in their system without them even knowing about it.

"You're making me nervous, you know?" John says shivering, as his eyes watch Katie walking back and forth.

"Sorry, but pacing helps me think." Katie replies never stopping her stride. She brings a hand to her face to rub her eyes. "This just doesn't make any sense." and so she continued pacing. She didn't even stop when Oliver returned, his suit jacket and tie now gone. His eyes went from the pacing woman, to his friend shivering on the table. He walks over to Katie catching her arm and stopping her, startling her in the process. "When did you get here?"

"Just now." Oliver says taking her hand in his and turning to John. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." John lies, and anyone looking at him knows that's a lie.

"You have a horrible poker face, you know that?" Oliver says before turning to Katie. "Did he take the antidote?"

"Yeah, and it hasn't worked." Katie replies pulling her hand from Oliver's and once again begins pacing. "The Count must have changed some of his ingredients or something. Developing a new antidote is doable, but time consuming and depending on what is actually in this drug, the withdrawal process could be hell." Oliver walks over and stands in front of her to stop her from walking. "I should get to the hospital, maybe they've had some luck figuring this out." Katie begins to turn, but Oliver catches her arm and Katie turns to him in confusion.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Katie asks defensively. "Look this is not the time for this conversation, so just-"

_"Hello Starling City!"_ a British voice cuts through the room, and all eyes turn to the computer screen in front of Felicity, and the face of the Count that's now on it. "Miss me."

"Felicity." Oliver says walking over to the screen.

Katie was about to go over as well, when she hears it. The echo of laughter that can't be, but is. She turns her head slightly to see the man who still haunts her. The first man to become a part of her nightmares.

"_At some point they are going to see_." Lian says, his voice causing a chill down her spine. _"They're gonna see the monster parading around as a doctor."_

Katie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, hoping he would just go away. She knew he wasn't real, and so she kept telling herself that, like this mantra on replay in her head. When her eyes opened, he was gone, but that tingling under her skin was still there as his words played over and over in her head. Her eyes go over to her friends who are now crowded around the computer to watch the Count torture the DA and she can't seem to bring herself to go over. She's afraid if she does, they will see right through her. Not knowing what else to do, she turns and hurries to the bathroom. Oliver looks over his shoulder just as she walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Where did he broadcast from?" Oliver asks and Felicity types a few keys, before a groan escapes her lips.

"He's bouncing the signal off of STAR Labs satellites" Felicity replies her fingers still clicking along the keys. "He could have sent that transmission from Markovia."

"No, he would want to stay local. Scrub the footage frame by frame, there's got to be something to trace his location." Oliver says, before turning and heading over to the bathroom. He knocks on the door, but doesn't get a reply. "Katie-" he grabs and turns the door knob, only to find the door locked and a low growl escapes his lips. He took a deep breath before reaching up a fist to lightly knock on the door again. After just a few moments, the door opened to Katie who was drying her face with a paper towel. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." she replied turning to toss the towel into the garbage. She moved to walk around Oliver, but he side stepped to block her.

"You're still saying that like I can't see through it." Oliver said. She looked up to him with narrowed eyes for a moment.

"Later." Katie replied. "I will talk about it later, after we find out how to get vertigo out of our friend and the rest of Starling." Oliver nodded and Katie once again tried to move around him, but he simply blocked her way once again. She looked up to meet his eyes again with a sigh. "Was there something else Liver?"

"Actually there was." he replied before dropping his lips to her in a short, but sweet kiss that made her eyes flutter closed.

"I got something!" Felicity called and the pair pulled apart, before turning and rushing over to the woman. The very impressive Felicity Smoak had spotted a reflection in the DA's eyes that matched the logo of Starling's Municipal Records department. They now had the Count's location, now it was time to bring him in. Oliver walked over to the case that held his hood, and Katie followed behind him.

"I should come with you." she said and Oliver turned to her with a look that spoke volumes. "You know he's not going to be alone. You could use the back up and since John is benched, then I should—"

"No." Oliver says with a firm shake of his head.

"Why, because I—"

"Because you're not focused enough to be my back up." Oliver said bluntly, and it struck her like a slap in the face. He suddenly found himself trying to backtrack." Katie—" she held up a hand to stop him.

"You're right." she replied knowing he really was right. Her head was in a lot of different places right now, and she wouldn't want her as back up either. "I will stay here and look after John." Oliver seemed to hesitate not use to her backing down without a bit of a fight. "Really, go. Find this bastard."

"Alright." Oliver replied before once again turning and snagging his hood.

Once Oliver was gone, Katie found herself pacing, this time more to keep herself awake. It was late, and since she hadn't had her regular nightly coffee, she was really starting to feel her exhaustion.

"You should go home." John says and Katie looks over to him, realizing he was talking to her. "You look beyond exhausted right now."

"I look better than you and in that case I stay to make sure you don't fall over and die from whatever the Count has put into that drug." Katie replied finally stopping and dropping to the seat in front of the man. "How are you feeling?"

"Peachy." John says tightening the blanket around himself.

"You should try to sleep, it might make you feel better."

"Interesting suggestion from you doctor." John says, even though the idea of sleep doesn't sound half bad. "How about we make a deal. I will sleep, if you do the same." Katie tilted her head with a quirked brow. "What do you say?" Katie stared at him for a few moments before letting out a deep sigh.

"Fine, you get the cot." Katie says pointing to the cot in the corner. John followed her eyes before nodding. He slides off the table, and walks over to let himself lie down on the cot. "I can't believe I'm going to do this." She lifted her feet up on he table as she lowered herself slightly in her seat. "Let me know if you find something Smoaks." Katie stared up to the ceiling for a few moments before finally letting her eyes blink closed.

_Katie didn't know what to expect when brought to one of the many secret facilities owned by ARGUS. She kept in pace with Lyla who walked ahead of her, but she still glanced around the facility bustling with suits. When Lyla finally stopped at a door, Katie stopped as well, following the woman inside what looked like a small conference room. There was a long table, surrounded by empty chairs. _

_"She should be here soon. She's just finishing up on a conference call." Lyla said walking over and taking a seat in one of the empty chairs. "Please sit." _

_"I'm just a doctor." Katie says suddenly turning to the woman. At this point she doesn't know how true that statement even is, but she's still holding on to it. "What does Waller want with me?" _

_"I don't think _ _'just a doctor_ _' is something that can describe you any longer." a new voice spoke and Katie turned to see the face of the woman who started it all. "It has been a long time, Dr. Robins." Katie doesn't say anything immediately as she resists the urge to kill the woman now standing in front of her. "Shall we begin?" the woman walked around her to the table, taking the seat at the head and Katie couldn't find it in herself to do anything. Waller just walked in like she hadn't totally screwed over her life by kidnapping her. "I'm actually running low on time doctor, so if you didn't mind—" _

_"There's a stapler two feet behind me." Katie says turning to face the woman. "I know the exact speed and distance I would have to throw it to kill you right now." _

_"I see you're still holding grudges." Agent Waller said and Katie scoffed taking a slight step forward, something that made Lyla sit up just a little bit straighter in her seat. "You came here for a reason." _

_"I came here for answers." Katie countered. _

_"Answers at this point would be premature and hinder your purpose for being here." Waller replied pointing to the seat on the other side of the table. "Please sit." _

_"My purpose for being here?" Katie asked with obvious confusion. "What—" she looked over to Lyla who turned away. Katie turned back to Waller who looked almost bored with the conversation. "Why am I here?" _

_"I would like you to work for me." Agent Waller replies and Katie's eyes widen, because the woman in front of her was not joking. She was totally and completely serious which made this that much more bizarre. Katie shakes her head before turning to look over her shoulder at that stapler once again. _

"Yes!" Felicity cheered and Katie jumped awake looking over to the woman. "Oh, sorry. Oliver saved the DA."

"The Count?"

"Still alive and kicking." Felicity says when a sudden moan comes from John. Katie jumps to her feet and walks over to the man to see that he's still asleep. "He's been doing that for a while now."

"We need to find out what the hell is in this vertigo." Katie says looking down to the man who can't seem to stop tossing and turning. Felicity's phone rang and Katie looked over her shoulder to the woman as she looked down to the ID, a small smile coming to her lips before bringing it to her ear.

"Hi." she answered turning away from Katie. "Yeah, we are." she suddenly giggled. "Thanks for the concern, we have to figure this out no matter how long it takes." the woman glanced over to Katie who subtly turned away, looking back down to John. "I actually can't talk now, but I will call you later. Alright, bye."

"Everything alright?" Katie asked glancing back over to the woman.

"Yep." Felicity replied not even turning to face Katie which only made her more suspicious.

Soon Oliver stormed into the basement, tossing his bow down and letting out a frustrated growl as he walked over to the display case and began pulling off his hood. Felicity and Katie shared a look before turning to the man who angrily pulled on his t-shirt and grabbed a nearby towel to wipe the paint on his eyes. When he finally turned to them, he noticed their looks and just took a deep breath.

"How is John?" he asked looking to Katie.

"He's sleeping which hopefully helps." Katie replied walking over to him. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, just wish the Count wasn't." Oliver replied tossing down the towel and looking over to Felicity. "Any idea of how he's moving vertigo through the city?"

"Not yet." Felicity sighed and Oliver let out another frustrated breath.

"Alright, how about you and me take a walk." Katie said taking Oliver's hand before looking over to Felicity. "We're just gonna go upstairs for a while." Felicity simply nodded before turning back to her computer. Katie pulled Oliver with her up the stairs to the bar.

"I don't want any coffee." Oliver says as he lets Katie lead him to one of the VIP couches where she pushed him to sit down, and she dropped next to him letting her head fall to his shoulder. Oliver lets out an exhausted breath, his arm tightening around her bringing her closer to him.

"How was the trial going before the DA collapsed and was kidnapped?"

"Thea testified and it didn't go over too well. Donner totally threw the past year in her face and made it look as if their reconciliation was just for the trial. My mother's lawyer seems to think the only other option is to have my mother testify."

"She thinks it could help sway the jury?"

"Yeah, but my mother is refusing. She's still hiding something and she's afraid if she testifies it's going to come out. I told her that secrets were the reason she was even in this situation and maybe it was time to just bring them to the light." Oliver looked down to Katie, whose hand rested on his chest and decided that there was another situation that could use a little truth. "I need to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me." Katie lifted her eyes at the request and just nodded. " Modafinil," when the word passed through his lips, Katie lifted her head and turned to face him. "Today when you left your purse in my room—"

"You decided to go through it?" Katie pulled even further away, about to stand to her feet when Oliver grabbed her hand.

"No, I accidentally knocked it off the bed, and everything just spilled out." he replied and Katie shook her head turning away. "I had Felicity find out what they were."

"You told Felicity!" Katie snapped standing to her feet. "Does John know, or your sister? Did you make sure to send out a tweet?" she scoffed turning and heading for the door, but she stopped walking.

"They keep you awake." Oliver says, his voice right behind her, and when she turns she see he isn't too far. "This is serious."

"It's not. I haven't taken them in months."

"They were in your purse."

"Because after the trial I was going to take them to Dr. James who wanted to make sure I still wasn't taking them." Katie replied sliding her hand across her face. "The day Thea was taken by the vigilantes, he noticed something off about me and forced me to visit him ever so often. I told him about the no sleeping and the pills and in exchange for him not ratting me out to the medical board, I stopped taking the pills and he helps me to get counseling or something for the no sleeping."

"So you're not taking them. Felicity said they were recalled by the FDA for dangerous side effects."

"I know, I was losing time." Katie replied running a hand through her hair. "So I stopped taking them and it was hard. They—" she met his eyes and shook her head. "They made everything quiet." Oliver walked over to her, his hands going to her waist pulling her closer to him. "Don't worry, I'm not taking them anymore." Oliver placed one of his hands on the side of her face. "You could've just asked me, you know?"

"I will remember that." Oliver replied dropping his lips to meet hers. The anxiety, and the frustrations of the day washed off of them in the few moments. Soon the kiss took a life of its own, and Oliver and Katie seemed to just be along for the ride. That dim lit bar filled only with their shared moans, as they moved back to the VIP couch, falling back to it. It was when Katie felt Oliver's hand slide up her dress did she have just a split second of clarity.

"Wait." she said and his hand stopped instantly. He lifted his head and Katie placed a hand on the side of his face. "We can't do this here and I don't think now is the best time." Oliver looked at her for a moment before looking out to the bar as if remembering where they were.

"Right, you're right." Oliver said lifting himself from off of her, and Katie sat up as well sliding over to lay her head against his chest as his arm once again drapes over her. They sit like that for a while in silence, the emotions and passion still lingering in the air only forcing them to ignore it.

The next day in trial was horrible. Oliver had to sit and watch Laurel of all people demonize his mother for an affair she had with Malcolm, that he himself only learned moments earlier. It didn't make her look good, and so now while a jury deliberated he and Thea just waited, their hopes not that high for a positive outcome.

Oliver found himself pacing, taking on Katie's nervous habit. He'd texted her earlier to update her on what was happening, and she simply replied to have faith. Her words made him smile, and it gave him just a little bit more hope that anything could happen.

"Would you stop pacing, you're making me nervous." Thea said looking up to her brother.

"Well I am nervous, so I'm pacing." Oliver replied glancing over to his sister. He finally stopped and took the seat beside her, releasing a deep breath.

"I need to get out of this moment." Thea said turning to her brother. "Talk to me about something else. Something that doesn't deal with trials, or cheating parents."

"Like what?"

"Like..." Thea turned away before her eyes widened. "I know!" she turned back to her brother with a smile. "Tell me about you and Twinkie." Oliver cleared his throat, turning away from his sister's gaze.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Are you two..." she hinted and Oliver turned to her with a furrowed brow hoping his sister wasn't asking him what he thinks she's asking him. "Like dating? Boyfriend, girlfriend?" Oliver smiled with a slight shake of his head.

"Fine, yes we are." Oliver replied and Thea's face pulled into an even wider smile. "No one knows yet."

"Why?"

"We just don't want to give the world a chance to ruin it yet."

"Huh." Thea muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just I'm surprised Katie would agree to that. I mean you spent so long being an ass and keeping your friendship with her a secret, I didn't think she'd be alright with keeping you two being a couple a secret too." Oliver looked at his sister for a moment and he couldn't believe this was the first time he was thinking about this. "What?"

"You're a genius." Oliver says placing a kiss to his sister's forehead. "You just helped me find something that I really needed to find." Thea stared at her brother like he was crazy.

Katie thought when she showered and changed that it would give her some sort of epiphany, but it didn't which sucked by the way. They'd spent so much time with the same information, and they needed something new. She glanced over to the screen of the data Felicity had created showing where all the infected lived.

"That's too random." Katie commented never breaking her pace. "If it was airborne or in the water more would be infected."

"What if they weren't exposed at home?" John asked from his spot beside Felicity. He looked at the dots for a few moments before an idea hit him. "What if they got dosed at work? Can you do this by their employment addresses?" Felicity looked at him a bit offended by the question.

"I'm really starting to wonder what it would take to impress you guys." the woman muttered turning back to her computer and typing in a few keys before another screen appear. This one caused Katie to stop and walk over.

"It's a trail." Katie says noticing how uniform the dots line up across the screen.

"A trail through the city." Felicity adds turning to John. "Any place you've been?" John scans the map quickly before seeing something familiar.

"There." John says pointing to a spot on the map."That's where I got my flu shot." he looks between Katie and Felicity.

"Flu shot?" Katie says turning away. "There was a truck that came to the hospital, but I was so swamped I never got a chance to even get one." Katie turned back to the screen. "The truck, I think it's one of those tours to make sure everyone has access to a vaccination. I think Starling City Mobile care is sending them." She looked back to Felicity. "Compare those trucks to the infected." Felicity's fingers once again moved at rapid speed, and just as they suspected they matched perfectly.

"I got addicted after one shot?" John asks looking to Katie who sighed.

"It's not impossible. I have seen worse with far less." Katie replied looking to the screen. "Where is the truck now?"

"Uh...Downtown." Felicity replies looking between Katie and John. "So what are we thinking? Call Oliver?"

"No, absolutely not. He's busy with his family stuff." John says turning to stand. "I'll go." the moment he tries to stand to his feet, he only stumbles back, causing both Katie and Felicity to grab him so he doesn't fall over.

"I think you just answered your own question." Katie says looking down to the man. "I will go."

"How many hours of sleep have you even had today?" John asks and Katie shrugs turning and heading over to the weapons wall.

"Enough!" she called back.

When Katie found the truck, she kept her distance just to make sure it was clear. Once she felt it was safe, she finally walked over making sure to keep her eyes open. Her hand reached for one of the doors, and she was surprised that it was actually unlocked. That made her nervous. No one driving around with that many drugs should just leave the door open. She looked down both ends of the block once more before pulling open the door and quickly scurrying inside. With no time to waste, she begins searching the truck for the vertigo. It isn't until she slides open one of the cabinets that she finds it.

"An unlocked cabinet in an unlocked van." Katie muttered to herself as she looked at the vile of yellow liquid. "Seems very stupid."

"So does walking into the unlocked van." a British voice says from behind her. Katie slowly turns around to see the man she's seen many times in the news. "Alone." Katie slid a hand behind her to grab the knife she had tucked away, when suddenly the door to the truck opened and in walked more of the Count's men. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Katie simply watched as the two men walked into the truck, pulling out their guns. "Your face is oddly familiar." the Count tilts his head slightly when it suddenly hit him. "Katherine Robins!" he begins to laugh manically as he turns to his goons. "I think we've found the next star in our movie." One of the men reaches to grab her, but Katie quickly grabs his gun hand pointing it at the other guy, shooting before jerking her head back and hitting the man in the nose. The gun slips out of his hand and Katie whirls around, slamming the butt of the gun into the side of the man's head, knocking him out. She's just about to turn to the Count when she feels a prick in the side of her neck. The gun slips from her fingers as she turns to the suddenly blurry criminal who seems to be smiling at her. "Well that was unexpected." those were the last words she heard before everything went black.

_"You want to go home." _

_The words rang so true. Katie had wanted nothing else since thugs strolled into that hospital and took her away. She wanted to go home and everything up to this point has been to achieve that goal. _

_"I can get you there." Katie turned back to Amanda Waller who opened a folder in front of her. "You just have to do things my way." _

_"And what is your way?" Katie asked. _

_"I want you to finish your training." Waller replied and Katie's eyes widen slightly. _

_"I'm not going anywhere near that bastard." Katie declared with a shake of her head. _

_"Don't worry, I was thinking of another approach." Waller says before turning to Lyla who turned to her with a look of confusion. _

_"Ma'am?" _

_"You are one of my top agents." Waller replied before turning back to Katie. "And before we put her in the field I want to make sure she's ready." _

Oliver decided not to say anything when Thea stood to her feet and began pacing back and forth. He did stand as well and walk over to the balcony that overlooked the rest of the courthouse.

"What's taking so long?!" Thea muttered in frustration and Oliver turned to her about to speak when his phone was suddenly vibrating in the breast pocket of his jacket. He pulled it out and looked down to a number that made him smile instantly.

"Thea, I'm going to take this." Oliver says walking a short distance away before bringing his phone to his ear. "You must be psychic, I was just about to call you."

"I doubt that very much Mr. Queen." Came the taunting tone of the Count. Oliver's jaw clenched turning away from his sister. "You know something funny happened to me today. I was going about my business, spreading vertigo through the streets of Starling when I happened upon the daughter of Jacob Robins in my truck. And me being the business man that I am, saw the perfect opportunity for another Count original feature presentation, but then I remembered something. One day I was reading one of Starling's finest newspapers, and guess who made the cover?"

"Look you—"

"It was you and dear Ms. Robins with a headline hinting at more than a friendship between the two of you." the Count laughed and it made Oliver that much angrier. "I thought what better way to repay the man who made all of this possible. The man who tried to buy me off last year, just before the hood put me in a padded cell. But then it hit me. Ipso facto, Arrow." The line ended and Oliver felt his blood run cold with rage. Before he could think, he was off.

"Oliver?!" Thea called after him and not even his sister could get him to stop. "Where are you going? The jury!"

"Something came up at the office!" Oliver called back with a wave of his hand, not slowing his pace.

The Count wouldn't make this difficult, he wouldn't drag this out. If he was going to hurt Katie, he was going to go somewhere he knew Oliver would find them and that place was QC.

The world was more blurry than Katie remembered as her eyes flickered open. It was also bright, very bright. She tried to move her arms to block the light, but her arms didn't move. She glanced down to her arms. trying to blink away the blurriness when she noticed the zip ties around her wrists.

"I was very tempted to give you a dose of my magnificent creation." came a familiar British voice from somewhere in the room. "But when I kill you, I want you to feel every moment of it." his sadistic smile finally came into view when he suddenly turned his head at the sound of the elevator. "Looks like the man of the hour is here."

Katie turned her head to see Oliver, trying to focus everything she had on him. The disorientation she was feeling at the moment was making her nervous. She couldn't really think clearly and it felt as if she weren't even really there. There was a laugh from the corner of the office, but it didn't come from the bastard that brought her here. It came from the psycho trapped inside of her head that seemed louder than before. She looked into the dark eyes of Lian who seemed to be staring into her soul. It made her insides burn, and she had to shut her eyes and take a deep breath, repeating a familiar mantra.

"you're not here." she muttered to herself.

"Katie, look at me." came Oliver's voice breaking through the fuzziness.

"Ah, I wouldn't bother." the Count said from his place behind Katie. His hands were plays with her hair as he looked down to the woman. "She's not all there as you say?"

"What did you do to her?" Oliver growled angrily, clenching the bow in his hands. He could feel the tingling in his fingertips as the desire to put an arrow in the man in front of him grew with every second.

"I wanted so badly to share with her my magnificent creation, but I wanted her—" he grabbed a hand full of her hair and pulled back her head, eliciting a groan from Katie whose eyes snapped open meeting Oliver. "To feel the pain that's in her future."

"What do you want?!" Oliver having to stop himself from taking a step forward. He was surprised by his own restraint at the moment.

"World peace and personal satisfaction. Though not necessarily in that order." replied the Count, bringing his gaze back to Oliver, sliding his hands to Katie's shoulders. "You poisoned me and put me in a hole. You have no idea how much I hated you for that. Turns out, someone else hates you, too."

"Who?"

"Oh, you're going to be surprised when you find out. He's a man of means. Set me up with my new operation so I could draw you out."

"To do what?" Oliver asked, just as the Count reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gun.

"This!" The Count fired off a couple of bullets, but Oliver was quicker and jumped from the room, sliding behind a couch for cover.

"You're going to try harder than that!" Oliver called back and a sly grin came to the Count's face before reaching down and slicing off the zip ties that keep Katie to the chair. He grabs her by the arm and pulls her to feet.

"Challenge accepted!" the Count yelled, about to push Katie forward, but in a move he doesn't expect, Katie jerks forward dropping to the floor, before kicking her feet into the Count's ankle's, making him stumble back, the gun dropping from his hands. Katie tries to get back to her feet, but the Count quickly reaches down to grab his gun just as she stands, his gun aimed right at her. "That was not smart. Now you're in a very dangerous place.

"She's not the only one." Oliver says, and the Count turns his head to see Oliver now on his feet with his arrow aimed at the man. "Drop the gun."

"Drop your bow!" The Count says, his grip on the gun never loosening. Oliver's eyes look over to Katie who shakes her head.

"Oliver don't!" she says looking to him as well. "You don't have to kill for me." Oliver's jaw clenched as he turned back to the man pointing the gun at her, the only thought in his mind is why he hadn't released the bow yet. Oliver fought every instinct in his body, as he removed the arrow from his bow, and dropped it to the floor.

"Your fight is with me, not her." he said, his eyes practically pleading with the man. The Count smiled at the man's action, his eyes going back to the woman who stares at the barrel of his gun.

"Well, then, consider this your penalty for making me go to plan B in the first place." The Count replied, his finger barely had a chance to reach the trigger, before Oliver quickly retrieves an arrow from his quiver, straps it to his bow and shoots the man right in the chest, but he didn't stop. He grabbed another, and another, all three finding the man's chest causing him to stumble back crashing through the glass window, and to his death. Oliver stood there for a moment, looking at the shattered glass where the man had just been standing and he didn't feel as guilty as he thought he would. When he looked over to Katie he watched as she stumbled back, her back falling against the wall to keep herself on her feet.

"Hey." Oliver says letting his bow drop to the floor as he rushes over to her. His hand comes to the side of her face as he brings her eyes to meet his. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Katie says placing a hand on top of his. "I think he just gave me some sort of sedative." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath finding things were becoming clearer by the second. "I'm fine." when she opened her eyes she saw the concerned eyes staring back at her. "Oliver—" she placed her hands on the sides of his face, feeling him slightly shaking under her touch. It was happening and she could see it. He was coming to grips with the fact that he did the one thing he promised himself he wouldn't do. She glanced down to his arm, noticing the blood. "You're shot."

"I'm fine." Oliver replied and Katie met his eyes and just shook her head.

"I love how you say that as if you expect me to believe it." She replied glancing over to the window and Oliver followed her gaze. He moved to go over, but she grabbed his arm to stop him. "Trust me when I say you don't need more images to haunt you. You didn't have to do that you know?" he turned back to her with a furrowed brow. "Not for me. I know how much you wanted—" his lips slammed into hers and it wasn't until this very moment did he realize how much he needed this. He'd spent hours at the courthouse, waiting, impatiently on a group of strangers to make a decision that would tear his family apart, and he'd been praying for this moment. Where the world, for just a few moments disappeared and along with it went all his troubles. She did that. Every time she did that. When he pulled away, he dropped his forehead against her needing to hold onto this moment for just a few seconds longer.

"There was no choice." Oliver whispered. Katie opened her eyes and they stared at each other for just a few moments.

"You have to get back right?" she asked and Oliver just nodded not even attempting to move. "Liver." a small smile tugged at his lips at the nick name. "We have to go."

"Alright." Oliver says wrapping an arm around her and heading for the door. Katie snagged her bag that the Count had tossed in a corner. She grabbed her cell phone from her bag and saw a few missed calls and texts from Felicity. She read the last text and stopped in her tracks. "What?" Katie turned to Oliver with a wide smile.

Glades Memorial Hospital was a mad house. They were running out of rooms, and every doctor was up to their wits trying to help their patients. The only thing they knew was that they were all infected with Vertigo, but no compound in their possession could reverse the effects.

In a moment that felt like pure insanity, Ethan grabbed Rebecca and forced her to take a seat before she had a nervous break down or passed out.

"Mills, I don't have time to—" the woman just jumped to her feet, and was about to head back out to check on her patients when she was met with the familiar face of the doctor she thought had quit. "What are you doing here?"

"That friend, he was also infected with Vertigo." Katie said looking over to Ethan who moved to stand beside Rebecca.

"And that justifies you leaving when we need you the most?" Rebecca asked and Katie shook her head.

"No, but this should." Katie says and as if on cue, uniformed men come into the hospital, each pushing carts that held large white coolers.

"What's this?" Rebecca asked.

"I have really awesome friends." Katie replied looking down to the coolers. "The Applied Science division over at QC was able to develop a non-addictive antidote to this new Vertigo." she looked back over to Rebecca. "I'm sorry I left and I know I probably don't deserve a second chance, but I would very much like one." Rebecca looked between the woman and the coolers filled with the solution to the craziness in her hospital.

"Mills—" Rebecca says turning to the man. "Show them where they can store this, and inform everyone that they should start administering." Ethan nodded, before turning to the men and waving them to follow him. Once they were gone, Rebecca turned back to Katie. "I could be a bitch. I could take your peace offering and still kick you out of my doors for that little stunt you pulled." the woman took a step toward Katie with a look so serious, it made Katie stand a little straighter. "This hospital is my life, and I need it to be the lives of the people I employ. You decided that saving lives is your purpose, it's why you're here. If this is your life, then it needs to be your life. I will not go easy on you or coddle you because you're rich, or because you don't need to be here. Those are the reasons I will not hesitate to fire your ass, do you understand?"

"Yes." Katie nodded. Rebecca looked at her for a moment before nudging her head.

"Now go. This place is packed and I would very much like to change that."

It was midnight when Katie finally got a moment to actually breathe. She dropped to a chair in the break room letting out an exhausted sigh as she drops her face in her hands.

"I knew you couldn't stay away." Ethan says walking in and going over to the television to flick it on. "It's me, isn't it? You couldn't stay away from me?"

"Sure." Katie muttered tiredly closing her eyes and leaning back slightly in her seat.

"So you talk to our fair Mr. Queen?" Ethan asked.

"No, why?" Katie asked.

"His family is all over the news." Ethan replied and Katie opened her eyes to the news story that was currently playing. She wasn't really paying attention to what the woman was saying, only to the news banner reading that Moira Queen was found not guilty on all charges against her. "No offense, but I am totally calling bullshit on all of this. I've been paying attention to this trial and that woman is the sole surviving conspirator of the destruction of the Glades. She should be under the prison." Katie didn't reply, because a part of her knew he was right. She had hope that Moira would be freed, but she knew that with the amount of evidence against her, that shouldn't be possible. But apparently it was. The scene suddenly changed to Oliver, and Thea coming out of the courthouse, surrounded by reporters. They were all shouting questions, that neither answered. It wasn't until one of the reporters stumbled, and Oliver quickly caught her arm to catch her from falling, did he finally speak.

_"Are you alright?" Oliver asked and the reporter just nodded. _

_"Thank you Mr. Queen." The woman said with a slight smile, grimacing at the next step she took. "I think I twisted my ankle." _

_"Well put some ice on it before it swells." Oliver replied quickly catching up to his sister. _

_"You've had a lot of experience with sprang ankles Mr. Queen?!" the reporter called, limping to keep up with the man. _

_"No, my girlfriend is a doctor!" he called back, before dipping into the awaiting car behind Thea. _

Katie's mouth dropped open as she stared up to the screen as she replayed the words she'd just heard come out of his mouth. Ethan looked just as shocked, turning to Katie who couldn't tear her eyes from the television. Soon Rebecca walked in, taking the empty seat across from them, her eyes looking to Katie with a furrowed brow.

"What did you do?" Rebecca asked looking to Ethan who shook his head.

"Not me." the man replied pointing to the screen, now showing a picture of Oliver and Katie, with the headline, "_Oliver Queen formally announces relationship with RI acting CEO Katherine Robins." _

"Wow." Rebecca says with wide eyes as she looks from the screen to the woman who still seems stunned. "Well I can't say I'm surprised. There has to be something going on for a guy to send a break dancing clown to your job." Rebecca reached out a hand and placed it on Katie's shoulder. Katie seemed startled by the action turning to the woman. "I think you should go."

"Right." Katie says quickly standing to her feet. She turned and rushed toward the door, but stopped before actually leaving. She turned and walked back to grab her bag and jacket before finally leaving.

Everything moved very quickly the moment she got into the cab and gave the driver the address to the mansion. The moment she stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door, time seemed to stop. She found herself going over the events that lead to this moment and she was suddenly nervous. What if it was just a slip of the tongue, or he didn't even really mean it. What if telling the world about their relationship was a mistake? She was suddenly thinking that just showing up here without calling wasn't the right move and so she turned about to leave when the door suddenly opened.

"Katie?" Thea said with a quirked brow. "I thought I heard someone out here. What are you doing here so late?"

"I—" Katie tried to think of something that didn't make her seem so foolish. "I saw the news and I wanted to come congratulate your mother, but it's late right?" Katie was already backing away. "I should come tomorrow."

"Thea who is at the—" Moira appeared beside her daughter, a smile coming to her lips at the sight of Katie. "Katherine."

"Moira, you're home." Katie says walking up to hug the woman. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you." Moira said before pulling from the hug. "Please come in." The woman pulled Katie inside, and they all ended up in the living room. "You have no idea how much your visits meant to me while I was in there."

"Really, it was nothing. I grew up thinking of you as like a second mom, of course I was going to be there when you needed me." Katie replied looking over to Thea and reaching out to grab her hand. "And when you needed me Speedy."

"One day that nick name is going to die. Hopefully very soon." Thea replied dropping her head to Katie's shoulder and letting out a yawn.

"It's late, you should head up to bed." Moira said looking over to her daughter.

"No, I wanna wait for Ollie." Thea replied her eyes closing.

"He's not here?" Katie asked looking between the two women who just shook his head. "Oh."

"He shouldn't be gone long. There was this terrible accident at the company that he needed to tend to and—" Moira was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening. "That's probably him." They all turned to see that it was indeed Oliver, who had already taken off his suit jacket and tie, his white shirt now untucked. He smiled at the sight of Katie, before looking to his mother and sister.

"Am I missing the party?" Oliver asked, the exhaustion clear in his voice.

"No party. Not tonight. I think we should all get some rest and celebrate tomorrow." Moira said reaching over to take her daughter's hand. "Come on dear, let's give your brother and his girlfriend some privacy." Oliver sent a playful glare to his mother and sister who giggled on their way out of the room. Once they were gone, he turned back to Katie who seemed to be looking at him in that way that always annoyed him. He couldn't read her emotions at the moment.

"What are you thinking?" Oliver asked tossing his jacket on the couch and closing the distance between them.

"Your girlfriend's a doctor?" Katie says placing her hands on his chest. "You told the world. You know you can't take it back."

"Why would I want to." Oliver replied placing his hands on her waist and inching her closer to him. "I love you and the world should know." she tilted her head slightly , and narrowed her eyes as if trying to figure out something. "What?" Katie simply took a step back before pulling off her own jacket and tossing it on the couch beside his. A sly smile graced her lips as she walked around him out of the room. He followed her with his eyes to see her headed to the stairs and begin walking up. He followed behind her at a distance, stopping at the base of the stairs. She stopped and turned back to him with a slight smile.

"You coming or not Liver?" she asked and Oliver was about to run up those stairs when his cell phone suddenly rang. He let out a frustrated sigh, holding up a finger for her to wait. He figured it was probably the cops with more questions. When he pulled the phone from his pocket, he looked down to the familiar number and his faced pulled into a frown. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." Oliver replied looking to her with a smile. "I just have to take this. I will meet you up there, ok?"

"Alright, but don't make me wait long Liver." she said after a moment before turning and heading up the stairs. Once she was gone, Oliver brought the phone to his ear.

"Bruce, do you have something?"

Bruce Wayne stood above the bloodied and bruised, unconscious body of one of Ra Al Ghul's assassins, who stayed loyal until his last breath. The only words that slipped through his mouth were, _"He will have her." _which caused something inside of Bruce to snap, and before he knew what he had done the man was dead, his neck snapped. He held the phone to his ear looking down to the body before turning away and swallowing the sickening feeling in his stomach at the thought of what he'd done.

"Bruce?"

_"We have a problem."_


	10. First Date

**Chapter 10**

**FIRST DATE**

_"Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now."_

_-Mattie Stepanek_

* * *

Oliver stood in the basement of the club looking utterly amused at the sight in front of him. Katie and John sat crossed legged on the sparring mat, their eyes closed meditating. He didn't expect the sight when he walked in, which made it that much more bizarre. Soon high heeled feet rushed down the stairs and Oliver turned to see Felicity who looked slightly flushed.

"Sorry I'm late, I kind of was—" she turned to see John and Katie as well with wide eyes. "I missed something."

"You're not the only one." Oliver says turning back to the pair. "Should we come back later when you two are done!" neither one of them said anything and Oliver simply quirked an eyebrow before walking over. "Guys—" he appeared behind John about to reach out and touch his shoulder, but the moment he did John quickly grabbed his hand before he could. John opened his eyes and turned with a slight smile on his face.

"It worked." the man muttered with a shake of his head.

"What worked and can you let go of my hand now?" Oliver says to which John complied.

"This meditation stuff, I thought it was craziness, but it really does help you listen." John says before turning to Katie who still hadn't opened her eyes. "I guess it helps with other things too." They both stared at her for a few moments until her eyes opened and she turned to them.

"When did you get here?" she asked looking over to Oliver before looking back to see Felicity. She furrowed her brow before looking down to her watch. "Shit!" she yelled before jumping to her feet and running toward the bathroom, grabbing her bag as she ran.

"So I'm confused." Felicity said sitting her things down and heading over to her computer.

"She has her quarterly meeting with RI today and she's going to be late." Oliver says with a shake of his head. "Which means she has a lecture from Jeremy waiting for her." he turned to Felicity who seemed to be staring off into space. "You alright?"

"Uh yeah." she replied turning to the man with a strained smile. "I just didn't get much sleep last night. So everything is set for tonight. All you have to do is show up."

"Great." Oliver says turning as the bathroom door swings open and out runs Katie who's now in black pencil skirt, and white blouse with one arm in her blazer as she holds her heels in the other. She was about to rush by him, but he moved in front of her to block her.

"Move Liver, I'm going to be late." Katie says trying to move around him, but he just continues to block her, so she stops takes a deep breath and meets his eyes. "Hi."

"Hi." Oliver replied before taking the shoes from under her arm so she can pull on her blazer fully. Once it's on he leans forward to kiss her.

"Ah ah!" Felicity interrupts before their lips can touch. "We've talked about this. I think you guys are ridiculously adorable, but the PDA is getting nauseating."

"I second that." John says now standing to his feet with a bottle of water in hand. "We're all for Twiver around here, but in moderation."

"Whatever."Katie mutters turning back to Oliver, reaching forward to grab her shoes from him. "Hopefully my cab is here. I told them I'd pay triple my fare if they really here in five minutes."

"Cab? I was going to take you." Oliver says pulling back her shoes from her reach.

"Uh, Oliver—" Felicity says and the man turns to her. "Why do you think I'm here, right now?" Oliver looked at her for a moment before it hit him. "There it is."

"The meetings." Oliver says turning back to Katie. "It's today."

"Right." Katie replied grabbing her shoes and dropping them to the floor before slipping them on. "You have two meetings and I have one very long one." she met his eyes and smiled. "So I probably won't see you until late." she leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek. "I will call you later though." she hurried around him and ran up the stairs to the club.

"Uh, Katie." Felicity whispered as she followed Katie to the stairs. "We need to talk. You can't keep avoiding this. We have to tell him."

"I can't do this now Felicity." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I'll take care of it when it's the right time. I promise." Katie glanced over to Oliver and just gave a final wave before rushing up the stairs. Felicity stood there for a moment with a shake of her head at the same words the woman had spoke weeks ago. Once she was gone, Oliver turned to Felicity.

"Is everything alright?" Oliver asked and Felicity turned to him with a smile.

"Yeah, and don't worry, I've already made sure these meetings don't run too late and I made some calls over to a friend over at RI and Katie's meeting is just preliminary I guess so it shouldn't be too long either. Everything should go as planned for your surprise."

"Let's hope you're right." Oliver says looking over to John who was standing with his eyes closed. "We should probably limit John and Katie's time together, because this is getting weird."

"I heard that." John says with a chuckle.

When Katie stepped on the elevators of RI she closed her eyes mentally preparing for her cousin's nagging that was bound to occur the moment the doors opened. She heard the ding of the elevator and just as expected there he was.

"Do you know what the board thinks when you make them wait?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"That I don't care about them or this company." Katie replied trying to mimic her cousin's voice as she stepped off of the elevator and began walking toward the meeting room. "I'm not late on purpose."

"You're not on time on purpose either." He replied reaching forward to open the door for her. "Remember just talk as little as possible and we can get this over with."

"Sure." Katie muttered planning on doing that anyway. The meetings were usually filled with numbers and projections and most of it went over her head anyway. She simply walked over to her usual spot at the head of the table giving waves to the members and awaited for them to begin. The moment she heard a couple of those words she didn't understand, she had already zoned out.

Oliver had mastered the art of looking interested even though he was anything but. He sat at his place in the boardroom, listening to information about some of the findings from their applied science division and he had absolutely checked out. He actually started thinking about tonight, and the surprise he had planned for Katie. He usually wasn't good with planning things, which is why he enlisted Felicity's help, but he did have a heavy hand on the choices made. Oliver was deep in thought when a foot kicked his shin.

"Ow!" he muttered looking to Felicity the culprit who stared at him with wide eyes. He looked around to the others to see their eyes on him as well. "Um, I'm sorry, what's going on?" Isabel let out a annoyed sigh as she looked down to the papers in front of her.

"We were just talking about possible profit making ventures and we wanted to know if you had any ideas." the woman said and Oliver wished he did. He always felt like an idiot in these meetings. He only partly knew what they were talking about half the time and the other half he would have Felicity explain to him later.

"Uh, no not at the moment." He replied and all the eyes to him didn't even look surprised. Sometimes he thinks Isabel singles him out for this purpose.

"Well I do." Isabel replied proudly. "Has anyone seen the Starling Gazette today?" Oliver quirked a brow at the question. The Starling Gazette was one of those rag mags that was filled with ninety eight percent lies and maybe two percent truth. She waved her assistant to bring in a copy of the paper before she held it up to see. "This was printed today and I'm not sure where they got their information, but our stocks have been rising ever since." She began passing it around, and Oliver watched the wide eyes of the partners as they read it. The moment the paper got to him, Oliver's eyes darkened as he looked up to Isabel who seemed to still be smiling. "I've been toying with this idea for a long time and I think Oliver and I could make it happen."

"This is not happening." Oliver says taking the paper and standing to his feet before storming out of the boardroom. Felicity jumped to her feet to follow after him. Oliver stormed down the hall toward his office before looking over to Felicity. "Why didn't I know about this?!"

"Rochev may have set this whole thing up so you didn't get wind of it. " Felicity replied following behind the man into his office. Oliver angrily tossed the paper to his desk before turning back to Felicity. "Look she can't make any moves without your approval, so we'll just pass this off as a rumor."

"I need to talk to Katie." Oliver says turning and grabbing his phone and dialing her number. "She needs to hear the truth before she sees this."

"That's not going to be possible at the moment." Felicity said just as Oliver heard Katie's voice mail. "The board meeting means total lock down for two hours. Even the hospital is only to call her for total emergencies." Felicity walked over to his desk and looked down to the paper. "Maybe we're just overreacting. What are the chances she sees this thing anyway?"

Katie had entered the land of daydreams after the first hour of the meeting. It wasn't until she heard her name, did she jolt back into the present. She looked around to see eyes on her and she cleared her throat.

"I totally agree." she said with a firm nod, hoping that was what they were looking for. She looked over to Jeremy who simply dropped his head in his hand.

"Katie, the paper." Jeremy says looking back to her. "They want to know the validity of the paper."

"What paper?" Katie asked.

"The one sitting in front of you" Jeremy replied and Katie looked down to the news paper in front of her. She grabbed the paper and read the headline, her eyes going wide. She jumped to her feet and stormed for the door. "Katie, wait—" Katie clutched the paper in her fist as she stepped onto the elevator, her cousin coming in right behind her. Before she could even press a button the man moved to block her.

"Will you move." she said her voice dangerously low.

"No, what are you going to do?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?" Katie asked looking down to the paper. "I'm going to go to the Starling Gazette, have them closed down for printing these lies and then I'm going to go home."

"What makes you so sure that it's a lie?" Jeremy asked and Katie's eyes widen because she could tell that he was serious.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she said tossing the paper at him, letting it fall to the floor. "This bullshit about Oliver using me just to get some sort of business deal, it's ridiculous."

"Is it?" Jeremy asked and Katie groaned with a shake of her head, wanting to be anywhere but on this elevator with her cousin. She was so tempted to hit him, but she was restraining herself. "I mean isn't this just history repeating itself. Oliver Queen needing something from you to succeed and to get it, he dangles this relationship to get it." Katie kept her back to the man, as minuscule pieces of doubt began to seep into her brain. There was always this small part of her, this part she wasn't proud of that would question why Oliver Queen, after all this time would want her. This could possibly answer her question. She doesn't want it to be true, and deep in her heart she just doesn't, but she does need to know to truth. Katie releases a breath before turning and picking up the paper and slamming it into her cousin's chest.

"This is a lie. Find out who printed it, and get a retraction." she said before moving around him to open the doors, but he once again blocked her.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know how good this could be for us? Showing the world the type of man Oliver Queen really is." Jeremy looked down to the paper. "I mean this guy tried to manipulate the Hero of the Glades. This not only ruins his company, but brings in more customers for us."

"Did you not hear me?" Katie asked taking a step toward the man. "It's a lie. Oliver is not conspiring to get me to merge our companies. He wouldn't do that. Get the retraction." she finally was able to press a button and the doors suddenly opened letting her escape.

Felicity stared at the plant that was placed by the elevator, just twirling her hair. She really wasn't paying attention to the plant, but it was the millions of thoughts swirling around in her head that had her attention. It wasn't until a hand was right in front of her eyes did she jolt back into her seat.

"Huh? What?" she looked up to see Oliver staring down to her with a slight look of concern. "Did you need something?"

"Felicity I've been calling you for like ten minutes. Where were you just now?" Oliver asked and Felicity let out a deep sigh as she turned back to her computer. "Is everything alright?"

"No." Felicity said not meeting his eyes. "I've been keeping something from you and it's killing me." she turns back to him to see the confusion written all over his face. "I just—" she closed her mouth as if trying to force the words to stay in.

"Felicity it's alright. Whatever it is, you can tell me"

"I can't." Felicity replied with a shake of her head. "I'm almost positive Katie will either kill me, or never speak to me again and I don't think I will be able to handle either one of those scenarios right now."

"Felicity if this is something important, then you should just tell me." Oliver says and the woman just stares at him for a while, inwardly debating her choices.

"Fine." Felicity says standing to her feet. "But I'm only doing this because I'm seriously confused about all of this." She pointed to Oliver's office and he nodded before following her inside, making sure to close the door behind him. "I hate myself for having to do this, but she promised me that when I found something that we would bring it to you and every time I've tried to let her know, she avoids the subject." Felicity walks over to Oliver's computer and quickly types something. "A couple of weeks ago Katie invited me to her house for this favor she needed. Apparently she'd gotten some pretty interesting information about her father from Agent Waller."

"Wait, Katie's been in contact with Waller?" Oliver asks and Felicity shrugs.

"I don't know how the two interact, but I know at one meeting Waller shared some pretty surprising information about Jacob Robins." Felicity said gesturing for Oliver to come over. Oliver walked beside Felicity and his eyes went wide at the picture on the screen. It was photo copied page of a file, and picture of a man Oliver would know from anywhere. He bent down to read the file and he just shakes his head.

"Jacob Robins was an ARGUS agent." Oliver says unable to tear his eyes from the screen. "And Katie knew this?"

"I think she didn't want to. She doesn't trust Waller or anything she says, so that's why she had me look into this." Felicity looked back to the file. "I can't dig too deep into this without setting off alarms and letting ARGUS know I'm sifting through their trash, but I was able to get this and—" Felicity typed a few keys into the computer before a map appeared. "This."

"What am I looking at?" Oliver asked as Felicity expanded the screen making it easier to read and also revealing a highlighted area.

"Look familiar." Felicity said pointing to the highlighted area on the map. Oliver tilted his head to the side as he looked at the line of islands before he saw the name of a very familiar one.

"Lian Yu?" Oliver mutters before turning back to Felicity. "Felicity?"

"To find information on this, Katie let me poke around her father's office, and I found this buried in one of his file cabinets." Felicity replied before clicking the mouse. "It's the back that's really weird." Oliver turning back to the screen to see the words, "Part 1." Oliver took a step back, his eyes still looking down to the screen as the implications started falling into place. "Oliver—"

"She knew about this and she didn't—"

"She didn't want to believe it."

"That's not the point!" Oliver snapped angrily walking around the desk for the door.

"Oliver wait!" Felicity called after him, but the man was already out of the office. Her high heeled feet clacked after him. "You need to calm down."

"Why, she kept this from me." Oliver says angrily pressing the button from the elevator before looking over to Felicity. "And then roped you into it."

"First of all she didn't rope me into anything. She asked for my help and I agreed and the only thing she wanted was that you didn't know until we had all the facts." The doors to the elevator opened and Oliver stepped inside, "She just didn't want you to know anything until we had all the facts." she moved to step onto the elevator, but Oliver held out a hand to stop her. "Oliver—"

"Thanks Felicity." Oliver says taking a step back. She didn't like the look in his eyes at the moment and she hoped she didn't just make a huge mistake by telling him this.

"Oliver what are you going to do?" Felicity asked, but the man didn't say anything before the doors closed between them.

That night Katie sat on the couch of her living room, trying to let the mindless reality television show distract her from the thoughts in her head. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the stupid paper since she'd came back home and the thought of calling Oliver to ask him about it just seemed pointless. Katie knew it wasn't true, but she knew it officially when her cousin called her just moments earlier to tell her that after a lot of bribery he was able to find out that it was Isabel who fed them the story. It should relieve Katie, but she just doesn't think Oliver would be completely oblivious to Rochev's desires to merge with her company.

"This is ridiculous." Katie muttered to herself as she stood to her feet and headed for the kitchen to search for food. Before she could make it into the kitchen, the doorbell had rang stopping her. At this hour, the only person she could imagine being at her door was Oliver, or maybe Thea. The young woman had a tendency to show up after she and Roy have a fight to rant and rave about the man before leaving to make up with him. Katie moved toward the door, making sure to stop a few feet away. "Who is it?"

"It's John." came the familiar voice, and Katie was instantly nervous. She quickly pulled open the door, to see her friend standing in a very nice black suit, holding a garment bag.

"John, what's going on?" Katie asked looking between the man and the bag.

"I'm getting paid over time." John replied holding out the bag. "And I guess this is when the universe finally cuts you two a break." Katie still stood in confusion. "It's a surprise that Oliver set up." John shrugged a bit. "Well Felicity set up, but Oliver had input." Katie reached forward and grabbed the garment bag, unzipping it slightly to see a shimmering black dress with a note attached. She plucked the note and unfolded it to read it.

_Dear Twinkie, _

_Just go with it._

_-Liver _

The words made her smile slightly before looking back up to John who still stood waiting for her reply. She glanced back down to the note before nodding.

"Alright." Katie says smiling up to John. "Give me forty five minutes." and with that she turned quickly and ran up the stairs.

Oliver stood in the mirror, trying and failing once again to get his tie the way he wanted it to be. He'd tied a tie a million times and now it was a problem.

"You look like you could use some help." came a voice from his door. Oliver looked over to see his mother who'd been standing there for a while watching him. She walked over and grabbed his tie before beginning to tie it. "I remember the first time your father taught you how to do this." Oliver smile slightly at the memory.

"I do too. He used to say, 'son you're not going to like wearing these things, but like everything else in life, you're just going to do it." Oliver says chuckling to himself.

"I remember you were so excited when you finally got it, there were tied ties all over the house." Moira replied chuckling as well. "Which is why I'm surprised this one is giving you trouble." once she was finished she ran a hand down the tie and met her son's eyes. "Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." Oliver replied turning his back to her to grab his jacket and slide it on.

"Doesn't matter how old you get, your mother still knows when you're lying." Moira said and Oliver let out a heavy sigh through his nose before turning back to her. "Does it have to do with Katie?"

"She hides things from me." Oliver says with a slight shake of his head. "Important things that I should know, and I don't even know why she just doesn't tell me. I thought we were moving forward, but we always seem stuck." Moira looked to her son for a moment before a thought hit her.

"Are you completely honest with her?" Moira asked and Oliver turned slightly because it was a very blunt question, but he needed to hear it. "Oliver, Katie loves you. I've seen it every time that she looks at you. She's been through a lot these past couple of years, so I can only imagine how difficult it can be to let people in after losing some important people in her life. Just give her time." Oliver simply nodded before watching his mother turn for the door, but she stopped and shook her head before turning back to him. "I came here for a reason, and I've been debating this since the idea struck me because I don't want you to get the wrong message here."

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked.

"Sit down." Moira replied walking over to sit on the side of Oliver's bed, and Oliver took the spot beside her. She looked over to a picture of Oliver and his father from a fishing trip when Oliver was younger and she smiled. "When I met your father I thought he was this pompous ass." Moira said with shake of her head. "But my parents would push me toward him, saying he's the kind of man I needed for the future I wanted. I tried my best to object and all the time I spent with him I let him know I wanted to be anywhere else, but none of it seemed to faze him. He seemed on cloud nine just to be around me and I swear I don't know when or how it happened, but I fell in love with him." she turned to Oliver with a smile. "Then one day we were having a picnic in my mother's garden and he reached into his pocket—" Moira reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out a small black velvet box. "And he pulled this out."

"Mom?"

"Oliver, I know you and Katie probably aren't there yet and who knows maybe you never will be. What I do know is that being in prison has taught me that I don't have all the time in the world and this is something me and your father wanted to do." she handed the box to Oliver who flipped it open to see a beautiful ring with a princess cut diamond at the top and tiny diamonds lining the band. "It belonged to his mother and now I'm giving it to you, for whenever you're ready to give it to your future wife."

Oliver looked down to the ring for a few moments. He expected to be scared in this moment, because he and Katie were no where near the moment where this ring would be needed. Yet a part of him was anxious now that the ring was in his hand. He hadn't thought about marriage, but now, this moment only one woman came to mind and it was her.

"I'm going to let you get back to getting ready for your date." Moira said before placing a kiss to her son's head and standing to her feet. "Have fun." Oliver looked over and just nodded before turning back to the ring in his hand. Once she was gone, Oliver stood to his feet and walked over to his sock drawer, pulling it open and sitting the ring inside before turning and heading for the door. He didn't expect himself to stop just short of the door, and look back to that drawer debating if he should bring the ring or not.

When Katie was finished getting ready, there was this moment where she just stopped and looked at herself in the long body length mirror and hated the fact that she didn't seem to recognize the person staring back at her. For years she felt like a monster, she felt horrible and now that she was here and putting on these fancy clothes she just felt like she was an impostor. She let her hand smooth out the material of the shimmering strapless dress, that stopped just below her knees, ignoring her hesitation about this night. This was the night she'd been waiting for and she's not going to let herself sabotage it. So she grabbed her purse, and headed down the stairs where she found John leaning against the door.

"So what do you think?" she asked and John simply stared at her for a moment before a smile pulled at his lips.

"I think you look great." John replies before glancing down to his watch. "Alright we should leave now if we want to make it on time."

"Where are we going?" Katie asked coming down the rest of the stairs and meeting John at the door.

"I think you're missing the point of a surprise." John replies opening the door and letting her pass through.

Katie rode in the back seat of the car, her eyes out the window trying to figure out where John was taking her. After a few moments, she decided to just give up and let herself be surprised. She looked over to John, seeing a seriousness in his face through the rear view mirror.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah." He replied looking over to her. "Everything is fine." there was something in his tone that made Katie doubt if he was telling the truth, but she would let it go for now. She looked out her window once again spotting a familiar street that they had already passed.

"John, are we going in circles?" Katie asked turning back to the man who didn't answer. His eyes were going back and forth between the road, and his rear view mirror, which is why Katie turned back. John had changed lanes, and a car behind him did the same. He turned a corner and so did the car. "We're being followed."

"I know." John replies and Katie feels the car pick up speed. "Have been for a while."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Katie snapped noticing the car behind them also speeding up. "Can you lose him?" Before John could even reply the car had turned off down another intersection. "Huh? That was weird."

"Tell me about it."

Oliver stood in the middle of the park he had rented and had lit with strings of lights and decorated with flowers. He stood where he knew John would be pulling up, waiting for Katie to arrive. His eyes went back to the candle lit table, where a waiter and chef stood waiting as well. He gave them both a nod before turning and looking down to his watch. They were late, and for some reason that made Oliver nervous. John was never late. He was just about to call the man when the car finally appeared. Oliver let out a deep breath, walking over closer as John stepped out of the car.

"What happened?" Oliver asked and John just shook his head.

"I'll tell you later." John replied walking over to get Katie's door, but Oliver waved him off so he could do it. When Oliver pulled open the door, his breath hitches in his throat at the sight. All frustrations and anger he'd been holding in this day seemed to disappear when his eyes found her. He held out a hand and helped her stand from the car.

"I—you—" words were definitely failing him at the moment and so he took a deep breath and decided to try again. "You look beautiful."

"You don't look too bad yourself." Katie replied with a smile before turning to beautiful lights and the candle lit table. "Liver, what did you do?" she walked over to the table to get a closer look. Oliver looked over to John, who simply nodded before getting back into the car and driving away. Katie spun around to him with a wide smile.

"So what do you think?" Oliver asked walking over to her.

"Meh." Katie joked unable to stop the laughter from escaping her lips. Oliver’s hands reached for her waist pulling her to him and she placed her hands above his chest. "No one has ever done anything like this for me."

"Well it's one of the perks of being Oliver Queen's girlfriend." Oliver replied.

"Oh, one of the perks. What are the others?"

"Play your cards right and you'll find out." Oliver says, his lips meeting hers, before moving along her jaw to her neck eliciting a slight moan from her throat.

"You keep this up and we're not going to finish this date." Katie says pulling back from him, only for him to catch her hand. She looked back to the table where the chef and waiter stood waiting. "I'm starving, what are we having?"

It was when the distance was forced between them with their table, did the day and all of it's unexpected information start to creep back into their minds. It's why most of their dinner was filled with just the clanking of their forks hitting their plates and no real conversation. Katie decided to finally acknowledge the sudden awkwardness.

"Ok what just happened?" Katie asked dropping her fork to her plate. She looked over to the spot where the car had pulled up over. "I got here. You opened my door." she looked over to Oliver who stared in confusion. "We kissed and now we're eating and suddenly no ones talking. Which is strange because I talk to no one as much as I talk to you." Oliver dropped his eyes to his plate as he picked at the remnants of his chicken with his fork. "Something's wrong. What is it?" Oliver met her eyes once again and opened his mouth to speak when Katie's head turned suddenly to look out to the trees that surrounded them. There was distinct sound of a twig breaking, and Oliver stood to his feet. "You sent the waiter and the chef off for an hour right?"

"Yeah." Oliver replies narrowing his eyes into the darkness of the park.

"It could be an animal." Katie says dropping her napkin onto her plate and standing to her feet as well. "I mean you did choose a park for our first date." Oliver turned to her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Do you remember this park? That quarry over there, when we came here—"

"That night after the middle school Halloween party where you lit those fireworks you stole. I remember ending up in jail and almost ruining my life because of one Oliver Queen."

"We weren't even arrested. We were just detained, and you know what that's not the point." Oliver replied turning to her. "That night—" suddenly the string of lights that illuminated the area went off, and all that was left were the candles on the table. Oliver turned, pulling Katie behind him as he let his eyes scan the area. "Is someone there!"

"Because serial killers always respond to that question." Katie muttered, placing her hands on Oliver's back. "I think we should probably go now." which is what they were about to do before they heard what sounded like something being sprayed and before they knew what was happening the air started to burn their lungs. Oliver turned to Katie, who like himself erupted into a fit of coughing. He pulled his arms around her as the world around them seemed to blur before all at once, it was just gone.

Oliver's eyes flickered open and the first thing he saw was the familiar sight of being surrounded by nothing but trees. These trees were the familiar walls of his unwanted home for so many years, and since the last thing he remembers is holding Katie in his arms, this is not the first thing he should be seeing. Oliver jolted awake, quickly standing to his feet and spinning around in search for only one person as he ignored the confusion and fear pulsating inside of him. He finally stopped spinning and just stood there hoping he would be able to hear her calling for him, but nothing. His heart beat was drumming in his chest as his breathing quickened at the possibility that Katie was somewhere lost on this island. The thought that his hell now had her made him sick to his stomach. He took a slight step forward, scanning the area once again.

"Katie!" he yelled, hoping...no praying that she could hear him.

A hard slap to the face brought Oliver back to reality and away from the hell that he usually visited in his dreams. When he flicked open his eyes he was met with the eyes that stared back at him through a ski mask.

"Hello Mr. Queen." came the accented voice that Oliver recognized as British. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your evening plans, but—"

"Where is Katie?" Oliver growled angrily.

"Don't worry." The man said stepping aside, allowing Oliver to see that Katie was just a few feet away, tied up just like he was. Her head was down on her chest, and her eyes weren't open. "The good doctor is still with us. For the time being anyway."

"What do you want with us?!"

"Me? Me I don't want anything from you. It's not me who wants you here." said the man with a slight shrug. "If I were you my good man, I would get comfortable." and with that the man disappeared out of the room through a door leaving him and Katie in some kind of dark room with only a dim lit light above them.

"Katie wake up!" Oliver called trying to pulled the ropes that held his wrists to the arms of the chair, but they were too tight to even loosen. "Please, Twinkie, wake up! I'm right here and I need you to wake up for me."

_It's strange how the distinct smell of blood can find it's way into a person's memory at some of the most unexpected times. Katie was sitting in that same conference room where Amanda Waller told her that her only way home was to finish what she'd started the day she was taken in Bosnia. Agent Michaels sat in the chair across from her ever since Waller was called elsewhere. _

_For some reason, the smell of blood sifted through Katie's nose at that moment, and flashes of her sword piercing the bodies of Ra's assassins hit her one after the other. _

_"What are you thinking?" Lyla asked breaking the brutal silence that had filled the room. Katie's eyes lifted to meet the woman, but she didn't say anything. "I'm just as surprised as you by all of this, but I don't think it's as bad as you think." _

_"There was this boy in this shack of a hospital in Barimo, he was shot through the chest in an attack on the village while I was there. After all this time I still remember his face as I had my hand on the wound trying to stop the bleeding and pleading with the nurses who understood nothing I was saying to bring me gauze." a chuckle escaped her lips because today the whole thing seemed so unreal. "My hand on his chest slowing that blood from leaving was the only thing keeping him alive and then—" Katie turned away swallowing the lump in her throat as the memories kept coming in waves that made her want nothing more than a bullet in her brain. "These men, the men Agent Waller sent for me, pulled me away and I had to watch the life leave that little boy’s eyes." Katie's eyes once again looked over to Lyla, who stared with both a look of guilt and sadness. "That was my first impression of this agency. That was the reason I vowed to kill the person responsible. So yes Agent Michaels, I'm afraid this will be as bad as I think." _

"Katie, wake up!" Oliver yelled and this time Katie jumped slightly in her seat. "That's it. Open your eyes baby." Katie's eyes cracked open and the first thing she saw was her wrists tied to a chair. "Look at me." she finally lifted her head to see Oliver staring back at her, tied up as well. "Are you alright?"

"I'm tied to a chair." Katie says letting her eyes scan the unfamiliar room. "In a strange room. How alright could I be right now? Please tell me this is a part of the date." she looked back over to Oliver who was looking around as well. "You trying to add some spice to our relationship."

"If anything our relationship could use less spice Twinkie." Oliver replied looking back to her. "I know there is one man, there may be more. I think he works for someone else."

"Of course he does." Katie muttered trying to loosen the ropes from her arms, but they were seriously tight. "Any ideas on how we're going to get out of here?"

"I'm still thinking." Oliver replied letting out an exhausted breath. When he met Katie's eyes, she was still staring at him with an expectant look. "What?"

"Anything now?"

"It's been like a second. Give me time."

"Time sure." Katie muttered working on her rope once again. "Are you sure you don't have a plan and you're just not telling me about it."

"Excuse me?" Katie just glanced over to him and shook her head.

"Nothing."

"No, it didn't sound like nothing. It sounded like there is something you want to say and since neither one of us is going anywhere at the moment, I would say now is the perfect time."

"You don't want to do this now." Katie replied dropping her head and deciding to focus on getting out of here rather than playing whatever game Oliver's trying to start at the moment.

"Fine, then I'll go." Oliver replied, but Katie still didn't look at him. "Felicity told me about the little project you drafted her in." and that caused Katie to stop moving. "I still don't understand why I didn't hear it from you."

"Can we not do this now?"

"I mean this was big. It was huge, and it wasn't just about you. It was about me too and you didn't think I deserved—"

"I was told by a woman, I wish to god I could kill with my bare hands, this unbelievable story that all my troubles and all of your troubles were created at the hand of one man. The one man in the world I loved more than anything. I was told by a woman, who has lied to me countless times, a story I couldn't just believe, so yes I asked for Felicity's help and yes I asked for her not to tell you until we knew the truth."

"And when she found out that it was true, what stopped you then?"

"You don't know?" Katie asked with a tilted head. "Should it have been easy for me to look you in your eyes and tell you my father was the reason you ended up in hell? I was scared." she dropped her eyes from his. "I am angry at what he did, but the only person I can blame is dead. You—you have someone you can blame and—"

"You think I would blame you for what happened?!" Oliver interrupted and Katie just turned away from his eyes. "I wouldn't. Katie—" she turned back to him. "I wouldn't. I just need you to be open with me. This only works if we're honest with each other."

"Or if I'm honest with you."

"What does that mean?"

"The Starling Gazette." Katie spoke and Oliver let out a frustrated sigh. "Ring any bells?"

"Do you believe what they wrote in that paper is true?"

"No, but I think you may have known about it for a while now, since I found out it was Rochev who fed the story to the paper." Oliver groaned once again turning away. "Honesty has to work both ways if we want this to work and I do. I want this to work, I love you and I don't want to look at you and wonder what you're hiding and I don't want you to look at me like that."

"Well neither do I." Oliver replied once again trying to pull from the ropes.

"I'm sorry." Katie said and Oliver stopped and looked back over to her. That was definitely not something he heard often from the woman in front of him.

"Me too."

"Ok." Katie replied with a nod. "Now we should figure out a way out of here." Katie glanced down at the ropes on her wrists before looking over to Oliver, whose ankles and wrists were tied to the chair. "My ankles aren't tied to the chair are they?" Oliver looked over to see that her legs were indeed only tied together in front of her.

"No." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "You could—" Before the sentence had came out of Oliver's mouth, with all the energy Katie had, she used her feet to pushed herself back to the floor letting out a pained groan the moment her back hit the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Sure." Katie replied noticing a slight loosening of one of the chair's arms from the impact. With a couple of tugs, the arm finally popped from the chair, allowing Katie to use her free hand to remove the ropes. Once the ropes were removed from her arms and legs, Katie quickly got to her feet to run over to Oliver to free him as well. The moment the last of the ropes fell from him, Oliver stood to his feet before wrapping his arms around Katie in a tight embrace. "I would love to have this bonding moment, but we should really get out of here."

Oliver grabbed Katie's hand, as he pulled her to the door. He pressed his ear against it in hopes of hearing how many people could possibly be on the other side.

"Anything?" Katie whispered and Oliver turned back to her and just shook his head.

Oliver grabbed the doorknob, turning it slowly only to be surprised that it was indeed open. With a furrowed brow, Oliver pulled open the door carefully, peeking out to see no one. Once the door was opened completely, Oliver stepped out, Katie's hand still firmly grasped in his own as he let his eyes scan over the place. They were in some sort of abandoned house. The place was dark and everything seemed to be covered in dust as if no one had lived here in a long time. Katie placed a hand on Oliver's arm and he turned back to her to see her point down the hall. He followed her gaze to see the glow of some sort of light coming from a room further down the hall. They slowly walked down the hall, careful to keep their steps light and soundless. When they finally reached the room, it too was void of any persons. The light seemed to be coming from a laptop that was sitting on a table. They walked over to see the screen showed surveillance video of the room they were just in. Katie reached down and clicked a key on the laptop only for black screen to appear, the words _**"Good Job"**_ appearing in bold white letters. Oliver and Katie shared a look of confusion before turning back to the screen.

Escaping was easier than they thought it would be. A little too easy, but that is something they would worry about later. They arrived back to the foundry, calling both John and Felicity to meet them. After telling them the story of their date that went from eating dinner to being kidnapped and ending with their abductors abandoning them only leaving behind some weird message, everyone was expectantly confused.

"Since when do people kidnap and then just leave their victims?" John asked breaking the silence everyone had fallen under trying to make sense of the situation.

"It could've been a prank." Felicity suggested and they all turned to her. "A weird, sadistic prank, but I mean maybe hurting you wasn't the purpose. They just wanted to scare you."

"No, this was something else." Oliver replies with a shake of his head, stripping off his jacket and tossing it on the table. "I think this was some sort of test."

"A test for what?"

"To see if we could escape." Oliver replied.

"No." Katie says and they all looked over to her. "I think it was to see if I could escape. I was tied up differently than you. Given more of opportunity to escape." They all turned to the laptop that Katie and Oliver had brought back with them. "And when I did—" she pointed to the screen that still held the cryptic message. She shook her head before turning back to them. "My head feels like someone sat on it and I have to pee, so if you all would excuse me." Katie turned around and headed for the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Awesome first date huh?" Felicity asked only for Oliver to turn to her with a very unamused look. "Sorry, but hey at least it's done, and the next one can be better."

"Let's hope there will be a next one." Oliver muttered letting a hand slide across his face as the events of the night replayed in his head.

"Why wouldn't there be a—wait, you didn't." Felicity said walking over to him. "You told her what I told you?" Oliver didn't answer, but his silence spoke volumes and so Felicity punched him in the arm. "Are you crazy! That is not first date conversation."

"No, it's being tied up in a room, and being so upset that things just fly out of your mouth conversation ." Oliver replied angrily, stepping away from the woman. "She brought up the Gazette thing and I brought up the other thing!"

"What other thing?" John finally asked in confusion. "What's going on?"

"I guess you're the only one who doesn't know." Felicity replied turning to him. "Katie's father was a former ARGUS agent. All evidence points to him being behind Katie's kidnapping and Oliver ending up on Lian Yu." John stared at the woman for a few moments as if waiting for the punch line, but nothing but seriousness showed on Felicity's face.

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was." Felicity said turning back to Oliver. "Katie was told this by Agent Waller who she doesn't have a very good rapport with since the woman kidnapped her. She asked me to find the truth and she didn't want me to say anything to Oliver until I did."

"Look, right now all of this has to happen between me and Katie." Oliver replied and Felicity and John just nodded. "Once we do, we will all come together to try and figure out what all of this means and the reason behind it." Oliver glanced over to the closed bathroom door. "Right now I'm going to take her home." John tossed the keys to the car to him, before the door finally opened, an obviously exhausted Katie walked out and Oliver walked over to meet her.

"You know I've dreamed of what a first date with Oliver Queen would be like and tonight wasn't even close to what I imagined." Katie said as she walked over to the man.

"Which part? The being kidnapped or having to escape being tied to a chair?"

"You know what it was? It was the chicken. I'm not gonna lie, it was kind of dry." Oliver couldn't help but laugh as he brought an arm around her. "Are you taking me home now?"

"Yes I am." Oliver replied as they turned back and waved goodbyes to Felicity and John. As soon as they walked out of the door, Felicity noticed the suit jacket that Oliver had left behind.

"He forgot his jacket. I should catch him before he leaves." The woman said picking up the jacket about to scurry to catch them, but she had only picked up the jacket when something fell from the pocket. "Oh my god." the woman couldn't keep the words from flying out of her mouth as she and John looked down to the small box that had fell to the floor. Felicity reached down to pick it up just as the door to the basement pulled opened.

"I forgot my—" It was Oliver who stopped when he saw Felicity standing there with his jacket in one hand, and the box that held his mother's ring in the other. The woman tore her eyes from the box to look over to Oliver who looked absolutely horrified in this moment. "Felicity—"

"Oliver, this is—" she looked back down to the box, a smile coming to her face. "This—" she looked back over to him. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a ring, but—"

"Oliver it's a ring!" Felicity screeched a little louder than Oliver would've wanted seeing as Katie wasn't too far from the building. Oliver quickly went over to Felicity taking his jacket and the ring.

"Oliver it's a ring." John says finally getting over his own shock.

"Yes it is, but I wasn't planning on giving it to her yet." Oliver replied sliding the box back into the pocket of his jacket.

"Yet." Felicity said the smile on her face growing wider and wider as she turned to John. "He said yet. Did you hear him? He said yet!"

"Felicity calm down." John replied still looking to Oliver. "And isn't it kind of early in your relationship for this to even be an option yet?"

"What, no it isn't!" Felicity said with a shake of her head before turning back to Oliver. "Don't listen to him. You love her, she loves you, and I love weddings. I could help—"

"Felicity stop talking." Oliver finally said before looking between his friends. "Look, my mother gave me this ring. It was given to her by my father and she said they both wanted me to have to give my future wife. That's it."

"Oliver it's in your pocket. I don't think that's it." John says and Oliver lets out a tired sigh. "You may not be planning to ask Katie to marry you, but I think you carrying that around with you means it's something you're seriously considering."

"Well maybe I am." Oliver said looking over to John. "At some point. Nothing too soon, and it'll have to be the right moment, but yes I will ask her." he pulled his jacket back on before looking between John and Felicity. "This conversation never happened." he looked over to Felicity. "And Katie doesn't hear about this at all."

"My lips are sealed." the woman said as she mimed zipping her lips. Oliver simply nodded before turning and once again leaving. Once he was gone, Felicity turned her smile to John, who still looked way too serious after what she believed to be exciting news. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just—" he shook his head as he turned to the woman. "I care about Katie too, but I get the feeling there's more to her story and I think Oliver marrying her would not be a good thing for him."

"I think it would be the best thing. Do you remember when we first met Oliver, and he was this dark, reclusive guy who believed his life's purpose was that hood? Katie showed him there is more, and he's finally seeing that his life isn't some dark tunnel that can only lead to death."

"Well I hope you're right Felicity."

Once they arrived to Katie's house, Oliver went in first to just look things over even though Felicity had told them that there hadn't been any breaches.

"You're being paranoid." Katie said walking into the house, just moments after Oliver told her to wait outside.

"No, I'm being cautious." Oliver replied following behind the woman to the kitchen.

"I knew I left this in here." Katie muttered spotting her cell phone on the kitchen counter. She picked it up to see a couple of missed calls, and a few voice mails. "Crap." she said before playing the first voice mail, and putting it on speaker before going over to the freezer to grab her ice cream.

"_Hey, it's Becks. Sorry for blowing up your phone and don't worry, I'm not calling you in or anything, but I had some good news. Ok, so there's this medical conference every year, but only the more popular hospitals are invited. But guess what, a letter came to the hospital today and we've been invited. This is so great. These conferences are the perfect opportunities to get exposure, and funding, so we just have to go. Which is why I'm calling you. I want you to go and represent for us. You're well known and people throw themselves at you, I think you could really help us here. There's only one catch and it's not even that bad. This year the conference is going to be held in Metropolis next weekend. Please, please, please say yes. Call me in the morning, alright bye!" _

Once the message ended, Katie looked over to Oliver whose expression was very serious as he looked over to her phone.

"Did she just say Metropolis?" Oliver asked and Katie simply nodded. "Katie—"

"This is going to be a big thing isn't it?" Katie asked and Oliver turned to her with a quirked brow. "How about we save all of that for tomorrow and tonight we try to salvage the last remaining moments of our date." she placed the ice cream on the kitchen table and went to get spoons. "We were taken before dessert and I think we could both use something sweet." when she turned around Oliver was standing right behind her. "What are you doing Liver?"

"Dessert." he replied before he simply scooped her up into his arms, bridal style and began carrying her out of the kitchen. "You know I still have to explain why I chose the park."

"I figured you just have a very warped sense of humor." Katie replied as Oliver began carrying her up the stairs.

"No, that night we were at the quarry, and we were watching those fireworks in the sky, I looked over to you and for the first time ever a question passed through my mind."

"And what question was that?"

"I wondered what it would be like to kiss you." Oliver replied as they reached the top of the stairs. He stood there for a moment, looking at the woman in his arms wondering how he let himself wait so long to get an answer to that question. Katie smiled before leaning into kiss him.

"So what's it like?" Katie asked pulling back.

"When I find the words I'll let you know." and with that the man continued down the hall toward the bedroom.


	11. Opened Doors Can't be Closed

**Chapter 11**

**Opened Doors Can't be Closed**

_"There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception."_

_-Aldous Huxley _

* * *

There was a door in Katie's house that literally lead to a hole in her heart. She usually walked past said door as if it weren't even there, but for some reason today, she glanced over to it and it stopped her right in her tracks. Her feet seemed frozen in the spot just a few feet from the door as she stood in nothing but a white camisole, and boy shorts. For a few brief moments that door pulled her from the present, and images of the past seemed to flood her. She nearly jumped out of her skin when hands touched her shoulders snapping her out of her daze.

"Just go in." Oliver said from behind her. "It's just a room."

"It's not just a room, it's their room." Katie replied staring at the door that lead to her parents bedroom. "I can't go in there."

"Why not?"

"Because—" Katie turned to face him. "Because I'm going to be late." she walked around him once again evading another conversation that would lead to emotions she'd rather keep inside. Oliver glanced over to the door before turning to follow after her.

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea." Oliver said walking into the kitchen to see Katie pouring a cup of coffee.

"I know. You've told me that all week." Katie replied taking a sip from her mug. "And I told you that it's just a weekend."

"Yeah, a weekend with you in a different city and me not able to make sure you're safe."

"And that would be a huge problem if I wasn't able to do that all on my own." Katie replied walking around him out of the kitchen, but she heard him behind her and knew he wasn't dropping this discussion.

"What if I came with you?"

"You're not coming with me Liver." Katie sighed, remembering this exact conversation the night before. "You're sticking around here, remember? To get your mother integrated back into the company and the world, which starts today if I'm not mistaken with your meeting."

"Right." Oliver says with a shake of his head as if remembering the fact. "What if—" Katie stopped walking and turned back to him.

"Oliver, what's going on? Why are you being so clingy all of a sudden?"

"I'm not being clingy, I just like knowing you're near and that you're safe. Is that wrong?"

"It's not, but at points in our lives we will have to venture away from each other for a while and Becks seems to think this conference could get some good publicity for the hospital."

"And I get that, I just don't understand why she wants you to go. Couldn't she send someone else?"

"She could, but she didn't." Katie said now getting annoyed with this conversation. "It's two days, I'm going, so accept it." with that Katie turned and hurried upstairs to finish getting ready. Oliver let out a frustrated growl before turning and heading into the living room and grabbing the phone to dial a number he wished he wasn't familiar with. He listened to the ringing, before it was answered.

_"Tell me you convinced her to stay Oliver." _

"No, she's adamant about going and I can't give her a good enough reason that isn't the truth to stay."

_"Fine, then I'm going to Metropolis, and I'll keep an eye on her." _

"Bruce—"

_"You had your chance to control this situation Oliver and you failed. Ra's wants something from her and he's not stopping until he gets it, so yeah I'm going." _

Bruce didn't even give Oliver a chance to argue before he hung up the phone. Oliver once again growled in frustration, dropping the phone back to the table. He didn't want Katie to go to Metropolis with a potential threat against her, and he certainly didn't want to entrust her safety in the man he still doesn't even trust.

Bruce looked down to his cell phone for a moment after hanging up with Oliver. He shook his head slightly before pouring two mugs of coffee and searching the apartment for Felicity. He found her in her room standing in front of her mirror as she was putting on her earrings.

"Coffee's here." Bruce said walking over and handing her one of the mugs to which she taken gratefully.

"A billionaire bringing me coffee. A girl can get used to this." Felicity said taking a sip from her mug as she looked over to the man. "So is today the day you finally come clean?"

"What makes you think I'm hiding something?" Bruce asked taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"You've been here for weeks Bruce, sleeping on my couch."

"I told you—"

"Bruce I would love to believe that you're here only to spend time with me, but I'm not an idiot. You're here for another reason. Just tell me what it is?" Bruce dropped his eyes from her and looked down to his steaming cup of coffee. "Bruce?"

"I have to go." Bruce said suddenly, standing to his feet. "I got a call about an opportunity in Metropolis, and Fox seems to think I could be useful."

"Metropolis?" Felicity asked and Bruce just nodded. "Katie's going to Metropolis today, in a couple of hours. Oliver has been trying to convince her to stay, but she's not budging."

"Coincidence." Bruce said with a shrug before walking out of her room, but he heard her high heeled feet behind him.

"Are you seriously not going to tell me what's going on?" Felicity asked following Bruce to the kitchen. "I mean if you're going to Metropolis then it has something to do with Katie, right?"

"Ms. Smoak-"

"I know you think you're being cute when you call me Ms. Smoak, but it's actually super annoying." Felicity snapped suddenly and Bruce sat down his mug and walked over to stand in front of her. "Is it serious?"

"I don't know yet." Bruce replied honestly, placing his hands on the woman's shoulders. "When I do, I will tell you. I promise." Felicity stared into the man's eyes for a few moments before nodding.

"Fine, I should go before I'm late." Felicity replied pulling back, finding that she hadn't gotten very far since Bruce's hands were still on her shoulders. "Bruce?"

"You should have dinner with me. When I get back, I mean."

"Wait, like—" Felicity stared in a bit of confusion for a few moments trying to understand clearly what he just asked her. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"You know I think I did." Bruce replied. "What do you say?"

"Uh, sure I guess."Felicity said her voice portraying just how surprised she was. "I will go out on a date with you Bruce Wayne." Bruce looked at her strangely at her choice of words. "I just needed to say that out loud in hopes that it would actually seem real."

"Did it help?"

"Nope." Felicity replied with a shake of her head, and before she knew what was happening, Bruce's lips smashed into hers in a very passionate kiss that caught her off guard. Her hands soon grabbed the front of his shirt as the kiss deepened and the world around them seemed to disappear. Once Bruce pulled back, Felicity stood there her eyes closed and her lips still parted and swollen from the kiss.

"How about that?"

"Um—" she blinked a few times before once again meeting his eyes. "Yeah, that—that helped." she looked over to the clock that hung on the wall behind him. "Shit, I'm going to be late." she pulled out of his grasp and hurried out of the kitchen. She grabbed her things and headed for the door, stopping before actually leaving and turning back to Bruce. "Uh, you should call me when you get there, you know so I know you got there safely."

"I think I just might do that." Bruce replied with a smile. "I might call you couple of times after as well if you don't mind?"

"I don't." Felicity replied with a smile. "I really don't."

"Alright, have a good day Ms.—" he caught himself before the name came out of his lips. "Felicity."

"You too, and be safe." she replied before turning and finally leaving.

Katie was supposed to be heading downstairs to grab her jacket, but once again she passed that door and stopped to stare at it. This time she took a couple of steps toward it, her hand touching the door knob, but not having the courage to actually open it.

"Hey, are you ready!" Oliver called up to her and Katie took a couple of steps back before turning and walking toward the stairs. When she walked down the stairs she found the man standing by the door now dressed in his Oliver Queen CEO suit.

"I know you hate wearing suits, but you look good in them." Katie said walking over to the man and reaching up to straighten his tie. "If we weren't already late right now, I would very much like to rip this suit off of you." She lifted her eyes to Oliver, whose hands moved to grasp her waist. "If we weren't already late."

"We could just play hooky. " Oliver suggested his lips going to Katie's neck, making her eyes flutter close.

"You're playing very dirty Mr. Queen." Katie half moaned as his lips moved to the sensitive spot behind her ear. Suddenly her phone rang and Katie slipped it out of her pocket, before turning and trying to pull away from the man, but his arm snaked around her middle pulling her back to his chest so he could bring his lips back to her neck. "It's not gonna work." Katie half believed that at the moment as she answered her phone and brought it to her ear. "Hello."

_"Hey, it's Becks."_

"Becks, I'm leaving right—" she had to bite her tongue because a moan was just about to slip out of her lips when Oliver kissed that sensitive spot once again. "Right now. I'm leaving right now."

_"Good, but that's not why I'm calling. I sort of forgot to mention that usually two representatives from each hospital go to these conventions."_

"Oh, ok. Who is coming with me? Is it Hansen, because I don't think I could take a whole plane ride of his silent judgment."

_"Well you're in luck because it's not Hansen."_

As if on cue the door bell rang causing Oliver to stop his kisses as they both turned to the door. He reached forward to open the door and both Oliver and Katie stood there in a silent shock.

_"Katie?"_

"Forgot huh, Becks?" Katie muttered before ending to the call and looking up to her guest. "Ethan?"

"So this is where you live, huh?" The man said before walking in and dropping his suit case to the floor. "I expected a mansion with like a hundred servants or something." and so he went wandering around.

"Wait, so Ethan is going to this convention with you?" Oliver asked turning to Katie who nodded. "And you want me to be ok with this?"

"Oliver the only thing you should worry about is having enough bail money for when I kill him." Katie replied just as the sound of something breaking met their ears.

"I didn't do it!" Ethan called from somewhere in the house.

"You know what, I'm just going to kill him now." Katie replied before going in search of the man.

Oliver was able to convince Katie to spare Ethan's life before he drove them both to the airport. After unloading their things, Oliver caught Ethan's arm.

"Hey, so I know you and I don't know each other that well."

"I think we know just about enough." Ethan replied crossing his arms over his chest and Oliver simply clenched his jaw to stop what he wanted to say from coming out of his mouth. He looked over to Katie who was on her phone talking to Rebecca once again, before turning back to the man.

"Look, whatever. I need you to know that if something happens to her because of you, or if you do something to her—"

"What, you'll find me and kill me?" Ethan asked in his best Liam Neeson voice, but couldn't hold in his laughter.

"Actually, yes." Oliver replied, his voice so serious that Ethan stopped laughing.

"Hey, you want to go grab our tickets?" Katie asked looking to Ethan who still stared at Oliver. "Hey, Mills!" she slapped his arm and he finally turned to her. "Tickets please."

"Oh, right." the man grabbed his suit case and hurried inside the airport. Once he was gone, Katie turned to Oliver who looked proud of himself. 

"What did you say to him?"

"Nothing he didn't need to know." Oliver replied placing his hands on Katie's waist and leaning in closer to her. "Is there nothing I can say to keep you from getting on that plane?" Katie turned away in thought before a smile comes to her lips.

"Can we call our little crime fighting team, Team Robins?" Katie asked as a smile pulled at Oliver's lips.

"That's absolutely not happening." Oliver replied before leaning in once again and kissing her. "Be careful. No solo missions."

"Oliver Queen are you telling me that in the case that I may come across someone who needs saving, I'm supposed to just walk the other way?" Katie asked as she began pulling back out of the man's grasp.

"No, just call the police like a normal person." Oliver replied and Katie couldn't help but laugh. "I'm serious. I won't be there to watch your back."

"That's fine, I can watch my own back." She said backing away from him.

"Katie—"

"I love you Liver."

"I love you too, just—"

"This is happening, ok?" Oliver sighed, but nodded because he knew there was nothing left for him to do. "Two days ok? It'll be over before you know it. You won't even know I'm gone." She gave him a final wave before grabbing the handle of her suit case and walking into the airport.

"Yeah I will." Oliver muttered to himself as he tried to ignore the nervousness that was creeping up inside of him.

Katie walked into the airport letting her eyes scan for Ethan. She spotted him instantly having what looked a very loud conversation with one of the boarding agents.

"This is going to be a long weekend." Katie muttered to herself rushing over before security was called on the man.

"I don't think you understand!" Ethan snapped at the small blonde woman who didn't seemed too fazed by the man's outburst. "We need to be on that plane!"

"Hey." Katie says walking over to the man. "What are you doing?"

"Well I just found out that they overbooked the flight and now we're being bumped to a flight that doesn't go out until tomorrow afternoon." Ethan says turning back to the agent. "You do know who my friend is right? You've seen her in the news and the papers. She could buy this airport and fire you. Do you want that to happen?"

"Ethan stop talking." Katie says pushing the man out of the way so she could talk to the woman. "There aren't any earlier flights that we could get on to Metropolis, no flights that could at least get us a good driving distance?"

"I'm sorry Miss, we're all booked for today." The woman said looking back down to her computer. "Tomorrow is going to be your best bet."

"Except we're supposed to be at a conference tomorrow afternoon, not on an airplane." Katie muttered with a shake of her head. She grabbed Ethan's arm and pulled him with her. "Come on."

"This sucks royally." Ethan grumbled walking along side Katie. "Why don't you have a plane? I thought all rich people had their own personal planes."

"Ethan I don't even have a car, why would I have a—" Katie stopped because she caught sight of someone she didn't expect to see. Ethan followed her eyes, he too looking surprised.

"Is that Bruce Wayne?" Ethan asked as they watched the billionaire waving and getting his picture taken. He spotted them as well and walked right over.

"Isn't this a coincidence?" Bruce said looking to Katie, whose face had morphed into a scowl. "Robins, it's good to see you."

"I wish I could say the same." Katie replied.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Ethan Mills." Ethan says forcing himself into the conversation as he holds out a hand to Bruce. "I'm Robins' best friend."

"Really?" Bruce said shaking the man's hand before looking over to Katie. "Once upon a time I thought that was my title."

"Well things change, people lie." Katie replied before looking over to Ethan. "Lets go."

"Go where? we don't have a plane to board."

"I will figure something out."

"Is everything alright?" Bruce asked looking between the two.

"Yes."

"No!" Ethan said ignoring the glare Katie was sending him. "We're supposed to be on a flight to Metropolis—"

"Ethan—"

"Bzzz!" Ethan waved a hand in her face and continued. "Because we're supposed to be attending this medical conference, but we were just told that the flight was overbooked and we have been bumped to a flight that doesn't leave until tomorrow."

"You know I was just on my way to Metropolis for business." Bruce said and Katie looked at him with a quirked brow. "Seriously, if you guys want a ride, I have plenty of room on my plane."

"Thanks, but no thanks we will—"

"We'll accept!" Ethan replies once again ignoring the glare Katie was sending. "Where's your plane?"

Katie found herself staring out the window of Bruce's plane, ignoring the man's eyes that she feels on her. Ethan was sitting beside her asleep, his head resting on her shoulder.

"This is going to be a long flight." Bruce finally spoke, but Katie didn't even flinch in acknowledgment. "You're going to ignore me the entire time?" she didn't say anything and so Bruce sighed. "Fine, then I'll talk and you can listen. So I saw the news. You and Oliver are a thing now. That's—" he shrugged his shoulders as he tried to think of the right words. He heard her scoff at his silence and a smile tugged at his lips. "Do you think that's a good idea? I mean he's—"

"Could we not do this?" Katie asked finally turning to the man. "Can't we just ride the rest of the way to Metropolis in silence, just not interacting with each other."

"What do you want? Do you want an apology? Because I've given that to you. Hell I've given you several."

"I don't need anything from you Bruce. You made a decision and you accepted the consequences of that choice."

"I was trying to protect you."

"I don't need your damn protection." Katie growled through her teeth. "I needed my friend. I needed you to be honest with me and not conspire behind my back with the woman who ruined my life."

"Robins, your father—"

"Don't you dare bring him up right now," Katie said turning away from the man. "I know that truth. I know what she says was the truth, it still does not make up for what was done for me. And it certainly does not make up for you lying to me."

"I didn't lie—"

"And you didn't tell the truth either." Katie replied turning her eyes back to the man. "For years all I had was you. You were the one who kept me breathing. I wanted to die and then you were there and I fought to keep going. We were supposed to be a team. We found a life after the demon and that should've been a bond that couldn't be broken. But you found a way to break it. So no you don't have to apologize, and you don't have to engage me in small talk because in the end only one thing is true. Our friendship is over." she turned back to look out the window.

"Just like that, huh?" Bruce asked and she didn't utter a response. "I didn't know our friendship was just so easy to—"

"Overbooked flight Bruce?" Katie asked turning back to the man. "We have an overbooked flight and our savior Mr. Wayne just strolls in to save the day."

"Robins, I didn't—"

"Yes you did. You bribed someone to get what you wanted." Katie replied before leaning forward toward him. "Just like you did with Christian." he opened his mouth to speak, but Katie simply held up a hand to stop him. "We've become friends and he told me everything." They fell into a silence as the revelations swam in the air, but Bruce wasn't about to drop this.

"You shouldn't have come back to Starling."

"Excuse me?"

"It was always going to be dangerous. There were always going to be risks. You knew that and you came anyway."

"You're right. It was dangerous and there were risks, but I got a message. It told me that the hospital couldn't do anything else for my father and that he didn't have much longer to live. So then I didn't care about the dangers or the risks."

"That was your first mistake Robins." Bruce said before standing to his feet and walking to another part of the plane. Katie shook her head before turning back to look out her window. The rest of the plane ride was spent in a silence that was only filled by the snoring of Ethan who was out like a light.

When they finally arrived in Metropolis, the sun was still up, but it was getting low and they knew it would be night soon. After retrieving their bags, Katie and Ethan stood bidding farewell to Bruce.

"Thanks again Mr. Wayne. You saved our asses." Ethan said shaking Bruce's hand.

"It was my pleasure doctor Mills." Bruce replied with a smile before turning to Katie who simply stared at him. "And you're welcome too Robins." Katie simply scoffed before turning to Ethan.

"Can you give us a minute?" Ethan looked between the pair as if hesitant, but nodded and walked off to give them some privacy.

"Oh, is this when you apologize Robins?" Bruce asked to Katie's annoyance.

"No, this is when I ask you if there is something you need to tell me." Katie replied studying the man for a few moments. Bruce stood there for a moments before slipping on his sunglasses.

"Nope, nothing at all." he replied before turning and walking away.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to kick his ass at some point." Katie muttered to herself, before grabbing the handle of her suit case and heading into the airport to find Ethan. When she found him, the pair walked outside about to grab a cab. "Alright, so the conference isn't until tomorrow, so I figure we can get some sleep and just chill for the rest of today."

"Wanna grab some dinner?" Ethan asked and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow. "What? Not like a date. I know you and Queen are a thing, but you're loaded and I planned on making you pay for everything, including my meals." he lifted a hand for a cab. "And the cab rides, just so you know?" Katie just shook her head before turning and just looking around, when she spotted a suited man walking in their direction.

"Ms. Robins?" the man asked. Katie and Ethan shared a look before the woman turned back to the man.

"Uh, yeah." Katie replied and the man smiled before holding out his hand.

"I am Samuel Baker. Your cousin Mr. Locke, hired me to be your driver." Samuel said as Katie shook his hand. "He said you would need a driver to transport you to different meetings and—" Katie just held up a finger to stop the man from talking.

"What meetings?" Ethan asked looking over to her and Katie just shrugged.

"No idea, but I will find out." Katie replied snaking her phone from her pocket and handing her suit case to the driver.

It never failed. Every time she talked to her cousin, she would inexplicably get a headache. She currently sat with her head against the window, her eyes closed she listened to Jeremy rave about how meeting with some of the Metropolis holdings would benefit the company and how it was her job to do this.

"Are you done?" she asked when he'd finally stopped talking. "Fine, I will visit maybe one or two—" he once again began protesting, but she interrupted. "And that's it. You're going to take it because whether you believe it or not, I am still in charge. And when I get back we will be having yet another discussion about boundaries and your nose in my life." she ended the call and turned to Ethan who looked utterly amused. "Shut."

"Wasn't going to say anything." Ethan replied holding his hands up. "It's just interesting seeing CEO you in action. I still don't see how you do it."

"Neither do I." Katie sighed just as they arrived at their hotel. "This isn't the hotel Becks said she made reservations for." Katie looked over to the driver. "Why are we here?"

"Uh, this is the plaza Mr. Locke said I should bring you to." Samuel replied lifting a sheet of instructions give to him from Jeremy.

"What's it matter, this place looks way cooler than whatever Becks probably got us." Ethan replied before hopping out of the car.

"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be the longest weekend ever." Katie muttered before stepping out of the car and stretching her arms a bit. She only took a single step when she had the sudden feeling that someone was watching her. Her eyes scanned the area and there were people everywhere, walking or sitting at nearby restaurants. Maybe she was just tired and being paranoid, so she shook it off and went to grab her things.

"This place has a bellboy." Ethan said watching said employee load their bags on one of the carts and roll them into the plaza. "Come on lets get checked in." he hurried in excitedly, while Katie stayed behind to talk to Samuel.

"How long are you to be my driver?"

"I was hired for the entire weekend ma'am." Samuel said with a smile and a nod. "Mr. Locke has given me your entire itinerary, and here is my card—" the man reached inside of his pocket and handed Katie one of his card. "If you need transportation at any time of the day that isn't scheduled, just give me a call. Mr. Locke has set me up here with a room as well so I should never be too far away."

"My cousin has just thought of everything." Katie sarcastically replied looking down to the car. "Alright, if I need you, I will definitely call, but for tonight you are released." she gave the man a nod before turning and walking into the hotel. The moment she walked in, she was suddenly rushed by an older, balded man who had the best curled mustache she'd ever seen.

"Doctor Robins, welcome to the Halldorf. Let me say it is an honor to have you staying with us for your stay in Metropolis." said the man, his french accented voice thick and unexpected. He grabbed her hand, and shook it enthusiastically. "I am Antoine Dubois, and anything you need, and I definitely mean anything you need we can acquire for you." Katie had to forcefully pull her hand back, because the handshake seemed never ending.

"Right, uh thanks, but at the moment me and my friend—" she looked over to Ethan who seemed to be having a hard time at the front desk. "My friend over there should have rooms reserved." Mr. Dubois glanced over to the front desk to see an unhappy Ethan and cursed under his breath.

"I'm sorry, we were not aware that he was a traveling companion of yours. I will settle matters right away." before Katie could object, the man had rushed off and she grimaced as he seemed to scold the front desk clerk. Ethan soon turned to her with a wide smile and a thumbs up and she just rolled her eyes.

Up in her room she felt was entirely too big just for her, Katie stood freshly showered and changed as she brushed her hair back into a ponytail. She glanced over to her phone that still had yet to ring today. She had long expected a call from her overprotective boyfriend, and since it still hadn't came, she thought she would just call him. Her fingers were just about to dial his number when there was sudden knock at the door. She walked over and looked through the peep hole only to see no one.

"It's good to know there are devil children in Metropolis as well." Katie muttered figuring it was just some sort of prank, before she looked back down to her phone and dialed Oliver's number.

_"I was supposed to call you."_ were the first words from Oliver's mouth when he answered the phone._ "I told myself that I was going to call you and then I forgot."_

"You forgot?" Katie teased walking over and dropping on her bed. "Wow, you're really slacking on your boyfriend duties."

_"I know, I'll make it up to you later."_ Oliver replied with a sigh and Katie could hear it in his voice that something just wasn't right.

"What's wrong?"

_"There was a break in at QC's Applied Sciences Division today. I guess some sort of centrifuge was taken. This guy from Central city, CSI is here and he thinks he may have been taken by some super strong guy."_

"I leave and all the fun starts." Katie says sitting up from the bed. "Was anything caught on camera?"

_"Yeah, Felicity was able to pull up footage from outside the factory, and it clearly shows a m_an_ carrying something that should crush him."_ there was another sigh. _"Now this CSI guy is hanging around, and I don't know, there's something off about him. It's fine, we're handling it. How was the flight?"_

"Let's just say that after you dropped us off, everything just sort of went to hell." Katie replied with a shake of her head before regaling Oliver with the tale of the unfortunate events that happened up to this point. After she was done, she sat and waited for his reaction.

_"So Bruce is gone?"_ Oliver asked suddenly and Katie furrowed her brow because the question didn't hold it's suspicious tone as it usually did when it came to Bruce. He almost even sounded disappointed.

"Well he's in Metropolis somewhere I guess, but he's not standing in front of me right now." Katie replied. "Which I assumed you believed would be a good thing."

_"I do, I just—"_

"What's going on Liver, you're being weird."

_"It's just been a weird day."_ he replied and Katie could hear the exhaustion in his voice._ "I miss you. More than I thought I would."_

"Well I miss you too, but it's only a couple of days. It'll be over before you know it." There was another knock on her door and Katie stood to her feet, once again looking through the peep hole. This time it was Ethan who stood outside her door. "I have to go. Ethan is here and he wanted to grab something to eat."

_"What? Like you two together?"_ Oliver asked trying to hide his annoyance, but he couldn't and it only made Katie smirk. _"Like a date?"_

"Don't worry Liver, my horrible dates are saved solely for you." Katie replied with a chuckle. "It's food, that's it."

_"Well, alright. Where are you guys going?"_

"Hotel restaurant. Very public, and we won't be leaving the building, which I'm sure makes you happy."

_"It does, but what would make me more happy is if you were here and I was the one taking you to dinner."_

Katie opened her mouth to speak, but there was another knock at the door, and so she walked over and pulled it open, holding a finger for the man to wait.

"Sunday night Liver you will pick me up and tell me more of these plans alright?"

"Yes I will. I love you."

"I love you too." Katie said and for just a few moments following the pair just remained on the line in silence, listening to the other breathe. Neither seemed ready for their moment to end. "Alright I'm hanging up now before you convince me to fly back tonight."

_"Wait? Could I?"_

"You'll never know Mr. Queen." Katie chuckled before ending the call and finally turned back to Ethan who stood at her door waiting impatiently. She looked over his clothing to see the man was pretty spiffed up in a dress shirt with a tie, and a pair of black slacks. "Don't you clean up well."

"And don't you look like a hobo." Ethan replied and Katie scoffed looking down to her clothes which consisted of a pair of jeans and a black hoodie. "This is a fancy restaurant, you're supposed to dress up you know. You're a blue blood, you know this."

"What I have on is fine." Katie replied grabbing her bag and shooing him out the door.

"You're going to embarrass me." Ethan muttered and Katie couldn't help but laugh as they walked down the hall toward the elevator.

Katie spent most of dinner staring over to Ethan with a look of disgust as he inhaled his dinner, which he made sure was the biggest steak on the menu.

"You're so disgusting." Katie said and the man looked over to her with a furrowed brow.

"What?" he muffled through the meat in his mouth. "It's good." Katie simply rolled her eyes before dropping her fork to her plate and throwing down her napkin with a lost appetite. "Oh, look who it is?" Katie followed Ethan's eyes to the door, where none other than Bruce Wayne was walking in. He walked over to the maitre D who pointed to the other side of the restaurant. Bruce seemed oblivious to Katie's eyes that were on him, as he nodded and walked across the restaurant. "Isn't this a coincidence?"

"I doubt it." Katie replied as she watched the man walk over to a table further from theirs where a man sat. The man's back was to them, so she couldn't see his face.

Bruce took a solid deep breath before he walked over to the table, making sure not to make any eye contact with Katie. He could feel her eyes on him, but he refused to acknowledge, hoping to keep the illusion that he is not aware of her presence. When he spotted the man he'd come there to meet, his pawn in his attempt to make Katie believe that she is not the reason he really is here. He hated that he had to do this, especially since he wasn't overly fond of the man he was meeting, but it was the only option on such short notice. He stopped right behind the man, taking another deep breath and pulling on a smile.

"Still a cue ball I see?" Bruce said and the man laughed turning to his as he stood to his feet.

"Still recycling old bad jokes." the man replied holding out a hand to Bruce who took it and shook. "Bruce Wayne."

"Lex Luther." Bruce replied making sure to keep the handshake firm before dropping his hand back to his side. "It's been a long time."

"No, it's been a longer time." Lex replied pointing to the seat across from him. "The last time I think I saw you was at that New Years Eve party in LA." Bruce started laughing because he vaguely remembers that party. The parts he does remember he wishes he could forget.

"That party still haunts me." Bruce says waving for the waiter to come over.

"I'm actually surprised you called." Lex said seeming to study the man. "Every attempt I've tried to make to meet with you and your people was shot down. I think there was even a letter that said that the views and beliefs of Wayne Enterprises just doesn't match well with those of Luthercorp."

"Well there's no harm in talking." Bruce said before looking over to give the waiter his drink order. As he turned back to Lex, he glanced over for a second to make sure Katie and Ethan were still at their table. "Plus like you said, a lot of time has passed. Things change."

"Really?" Lex asked, the skepticism clear in his tone as he picked up his glass of scotch and brought it to his lips. "I'm listening."

Katie kept her eyes on Bruce ever since he took his seat. He never seemed to even notice her, which made her suspicious. Bruce, was like Oliver. They were always aware of their surroundings, and felt the eyes on them, which is how she knows he knows she's watching him. For some reason he's trying his best not to even look in her direction.

"Earth to Kit Kat." Ethan says waving a hand in Katie's face. She finally turns to him in confusion. "Did you want to go over there or something?"

"No, sorry." Katie replies with a slight shake of her head. "So are you done, because I don't feel like trying to restart your heart."

"Funny, but no meal is complete without dessert." Ethan replied turning about to wave down their waiter, when his eyes met a beautiful blonde haired woman sitting at the bar. "Whoa." Katie followed his eyes and just shook her head as she watched the woman fluttering her eyes at the man flirtatiously.

"Just go." Katie says and Ethan turns back to her. "It's fine, I wasn't really enjoying your company, and she might. I will take care of this."

"Seriously?" Ethan asked and Katie just nodded.

"Just be in your room tomorrow, up and ready to check in at the conference. That's all I ask."

"Absolutely." Ethan says standing to his feet and tossing down his napkin. "I will see you at eleven o'clock."

"Ten o'clock."

"That's what I meant." The man replied with a wink before turning and strutting over to the woman at the bar. Katie shook her head before once again glancing over to Bruce who caught her glance for a second before turning back to the man.

"What the hell are you up to." Katie muttered before waving for the waiter to bring the bill.

Bruce half listened as Lex went on about an upcoming marketing campaign that Luthercorp was going to be shelling out soon, and how Wayne Enterprises could be a profitable addition. Lex noticed Bruce glancing over his shoulder once again.

"What are you—" Lex turned behind him and saw her. "Is that—" Katie was talking to the waiter who handed her the bill and just then her eyes lifted to see the two men looking over to her. Her eyes seemed glued to Lex, and the expression on her face was unmistakably shock. After the shock seemed to pass, Katie dropped her eyes to her bill and scribbled a signature before jumping to her feet and rushing out of the restaurant. Lex stood to his feet as well about to go after her, but stopped and turned to Bruce "I think I now know the real reason you called this meeting Bruce."

"I doubt that very much Lex." Bruce replies standing to his feet.

"Well play games on your own time." Lex says before turning and rushing off. Bruce was about to follow, but was stopped by the maitre D about the bill. Lex ran out into the lobby, scanning the area, before he spotted her by the elevators. He quickly ran over before she could get away. "You weren't even going to say hi." he said, slightly out of breath. She doesn't turn to him, but she does stop her incessant pressing of the elevator button. "Katie—" he takes a step forward, but she holds up a hand to stop him.

"Don't." Katie says once the elevators doors finally open. She steps on and turns to him, finally meeting his eyes. "Hi Lexie." he smiles a bit at the ridiculous nickname that only she seems to call him. She slightly waves as the elevator doors begin to close. "By Lexie." Katie lets her back lean against the wall of the elevator as she closes her eyes trying to ignore memories from years ago that seemed to be attached to the man. Once the doors opened, she tiredly walked down the baron hallway, and it was only after a couple of steps did she feel as if someone was behind her. She stopped suddenly and turned, but there was no there. "You're finally starting to go crazy, aren't you?" she shook her head before continuing to her room.

Once in her room, Katie fell back on her bed and stared up to the ceiling of the dark room. She'd realized a while ago that it was Oliver who contributed to the peaceful sleep she'd been getting lately. That's how she knew she probably wasn't going to be as bright and bushy tailed as she would like this weekend. She grabbed her phone hoping Oliver wasn't too busy to distract her for a while. The phone rang for a while and she was about to hang up, but he finally answered.

_"Hello? What's wrong?" _

"Nothing." Katie replied instantly wondering why he would think something was wrong. She heard him grunt in pain and she sat up from the bed. "What's wrong with you?"

_"Nothing."_ he said, but she could hear the tension in his voice.

"Liver?"

_"Fine, we were able to locate the guy who stole the cintrifuge." _

"And—"

_"And we think he may be on some kind of compound that gives him superhuman strength."_ Oliver replied and Katie stood to her feet.

"Compound? What kind of compound?"

_"It's a serum I think. I came across something like it during my time on the island." _Oliver said and Katie's eyes widened. The island wasn't a subject they talked about often, and she was always surprised when it came up.

"Hey, so this may be a weird question, but you wouldn't by chance have heard the name Ivo connected with this serum, would you?" Katie asked and the line went silent."Liver?"

_"How do you know him?" _

"I met him in passing during my Doctors without boarders tour. He seemed like a whack job, talking about some revolutionary serum that could make men stronger and faster, the only hitch was that it was on some sunken submarine. Look, maybe he's alive—"

_"Ivo's dead."_ Oliver replies with an unwavering certainty. _"But someone out there has found his serum."_ Oliver groaned once again.

"Wait, you fought this superhuman freak, didn't you?" Katie asked, and Oliver didn't say anything which was answer enough for her. "You're hurt. Is it bad?"

_"I'm fine." _

"That just means you're not fine." Katie says walking over and grabbing her bag. "I'm coming back."

_"Wait!"_ Katie heard Oliver mutter something to someone, before he was talking to her again. "_Look as much as I would love for you to come back, I think it's a good thing that you're not close to this." _

"Why? You're hurt and that's where my job description comes in. Why don't you want me to come back?"

_"Because." _

"That's not good enough."

_"Because—"_ he groaned before deciding to just come out with it. "_Because this is big. This is something I need one hundred percent focus on and—"_ he sighed. _"And when you're around I'm not one hundred percent. Hell I'm probably not even fifty percent of the person I need to be when I where that hood." _Katie didn't say anything, unsure how to respond to that revelation. _"Twinkie?" _

"Be careful. Like really careful."

_"I will." _

"I'm serious. This is new and this is dangerous. So your fighting skills just may not be enough. You have to find a way to weaken him. Something to counterattack the serum."

_"Felicity and Mr. Allen are working on it." _

"Who is Mr. Allen?"

_"Felicity's new boyfriend!” A hiss in pain followed the statement. “You did that on purpose Felicity!"_

"Oliver?"

_"I'm fine. Look I should go." _

"Right. You have to be the guy who shoots the arrows and you can't be him when I'm around."

_"Katie—" _

"You're going to have to figure that out, you know? I can't travel across the country every time you need to get into your arrow mode."

_"I know. I will figure it out." _

"Well you better." Katie sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I should hang up now."

_"First, you need to lie down."_ Oliver said and Katie looked around the room.

"How did you know—"

_"Just do it."_ he said and Katie rolled her eyes before lying back on the bed.

"Now what?"

_"Close your eyes."_

"I don't see—" she yawned loudly. "I don't see the point of this." Soon sleep takes her away from the moment and she doesn't even know when it happened.

_Sweat was practically pouring from Katie's face as she lifted her self up and down from the pull up bar. It was late and the gym was empty which is how she usually liked it._

_"So tell me why I was awaken out of my sleep and told that our newest recruit was wandering alone again?" spoke a familiar voice from behind her. She didn't stop her pull ups as she heard the woman's feet get closer. "But not before she tried escaping again." _

_"Which was a failure once again Agent Michaels, so do you have a point?" Katie asked finally dropping to her feet and walking away from the woman._

_"My point is, at some point you're going to have to accept that this is what you have to do to get home. You have to follow the rules and-" _

_"Be Waller's bitch?" Katie asked grabbing her towel before turning to the woman. "That's not happening. I'm not accepting some job to work here, you're not training me and I will attempt to escape everyday if I have to until I'm home." _

_"You don't get it do you?" Lyla asked as she walked over to the woman. "You can't beat us. I don't care how much training you've had with Ra's or—" in a move to quick for Lyla to even try to be prepared for, Katie dropped and slid a leg underneath the woman's feet causing her to fall on her back. _

_"I can beat you Agent Michaels, actually I will beat you and I will be going home. And that's probably something you should accept." and those were Katie's final words before turning and walking out of the gym, leaving the woman sitting there slightly shocked and completely upset. _

Katie's eyes snapped open from one of many dreams she wished she would just stop having. She hated that when she slept, it was the past she was trying to get away from that always trapped her. She let out a deep breath, before turning and seeing the clock telling her that if she didn't get up she was going to be late to the conference. Katie jumped out of bed and went straight to the bathroom to shower.

It didn't take her long to get ready and end up outside of Ethan's door. It did however annoy her to no end that when she knocked on his door, he didn't answer. She heard the ding of the elevator from down the hall, and turned with a roll of her eyes when she saw who was stepping off.

"I really don't have time Bruce." She said turning to now bang on the man's door. "Ethan, wake up, we have to go!"

"Lex Luther." Bruce said walking over to her, but Katie wouldn't look at him. "How do you know him?"

"That's none of your business." Katie replied dropping her hands to her side and looking around the halls. She spotted a maid's cart no too far away, and she quickly rushed over. There was a key card sitting right on top of the cart and Katie snagged it before going back over to Ethan's door and not wasting anytime to open the door. She walked inside, Bruce right behind her, to find the room empty. "Ethan?" she looked to the made bed before walking over to the bathroom, that too was empty. She took out her cell phone and dialed his number.

"He was with that woman last night." Bruce said and Katie glared at her. "Fine, I did see you last night." Katie shook her head as she listened to the ringing phone, only for it to go straight to voice mail.

"Ethan, I don't know where you are, but I am going to kill you if we're late to this conference!" she ended the call about to storm out of the room, when suddenly the room's phone rang. Katie stopped and she and Bruce looked over to the ringing phone. She shook her head before walking over and picking it up. "Hello?"

_"It's quite dangerous being friends with you Dr. Robins."_ A clearly distorted voice said and Katie turned to meet Bruce's questioning gaze. _"I mean look at Dr. Mills here. All he did was accompany you to Metropolis and now he's being used as a bargaining chip."_

"If you hurt him—"

_"Before you finish that sentence I think you should know that there is a gun aimed at your friend right now. I hold the cards here doctor."_

"What do you want?"

_"What do you think I want from the rich girl from Starling? Ten million, tonight."_

"And where do I get that kind of money in such short notice?"

_"You can pull it out your ass for all I care, but if you do not bring that money to the directed location tonight, then your friend Mr. Mills will not see tomorrow."_

"Fine, when and where?"

_"I'll text you the location."_ and with that the line ended.

Katie stood there for a few moments, the phone still to her ear as the realization of what was happening seemed to slowly strike. When she finally admitted to herself, that this was real and happened, she grabbed the phone and pulled it from the wall before throwing it across the room. She turned to storm out of the room, but Bruce moved to block her.

"What is going on Robins?"

"He's been kidnapped!" Katie snapped angrily once again trying to move around him, but Bruce wouldn't let her pass. "Will you move!"

"No, what do they want?"

"Money. Ten million dollars, that I have no idea where to even begin trying to get. Jeremy handles the majority of my money and I just know if I call him—" Katie closed her eyes and let out a frustrated growl. "He's just the guy that's supposed to come with me to this stupid medical conference and because of that he's kidnapped. Because of me."

"Robins." Bruce said placing his hands on her shoulders. "This isn't your fault."

"It is, now if you would move, I need to get this money."

"I will handle the money. Where is it going?"

"Bruce I can't ask you to—"

"You're not asking. Where is it going?"

"I don't know,they say they're going to text me. I don't even know how—" suddenly her phone vibrates in her hands and when she looks down, she sees the text message from an unknown number. "Tonight at ten, at these coordinates." she turned the phone so Bruce could see. He entered the coordinates into his own phone pulling up the location.

"You have to be kidding me?" Bruce muttered and Katie moved to look down to his phone. "It's an old RI factory. Your father wanted to expand, so he built a bigger facility closer to the city." he looked over to Katie who couldn't tear her eyes from the screen. "I know you may not want to hear this, but what could be the chances that your friend is in on this?" Katie turned a dark look to Bruce before moving around him out of the room. "Robins-"

"Everyone is not a liar like you Bruce. Ethan wouldn't. I've known him and I know he's only in this situation because of me." she headed to the elevator. "Are you sure you can get the money?"

"Yeah, I can." Bruce replied following close behind her. "But you gotta know that there's no guarantee that they're just going to let him go or even that he's still alive."

"I know that, which is why I'm going to hopefully find them first." Katie replied stepping onto the elevator.

"Robins, you getting yourself deeper into this is not going to do any good." Bruce said and Katie just shook her head. "I will handle this."

"I got him into this and I will get him out." Katie said looking up to the doors just as they opened. "Starting now." she rushed off of the elevator and Bruce could do nothing but follow to make sure she didn't get into anything. She simply walked over to the front desk, but had to wait behind a couple that was talking to the clerk.

"C'mon Max, you have to give me more than that." Katie heard the woman in front of her tell the clerk. "That was nothing. Fifty bucks should give me more than that."

"I could lose my job." the clerk replied to the woman.

"What about your self respect?" the woman asked. "If you help us, I promise you'll be able to sleep a little better at night."

"I don't need sleep, I need a job and talking to you is a sure fire way for me to lose that Ms. Lane." the man said before lifting his head to see Katie and Bruce. "Oh crap." the couple in front of them finally turned, their eyes going wide as well.

"Ms. Robins, Mr. Wayne," The woman said with a wide smile as she turned to Katie. "I'm sorry, doctor right?"

"Katie is fine." Katie replied before attempting to move around the woman, but she only stepped to block her. "And you are?"

"Lois Lane." the woman said holding out her hand. "Reporter for the Daily Planet." Katie shook the woman's hand in hopes that she would finally move. "This is my partner Clark Kent." the man seemed to smile nervously staring between Katie and Bruce. "You know I think this is fate, because I would love to talk to the both of you actually and—"

"Now really isn't the best time." Katie replied once again trying to move around the woman who once again blocked her.

"And I completely understand that you're busy and that you're probably not in town long, but—"

"Lois maybe we should—" Clark nodded a head toward the door noticing the hotel's manager, who had warned them many times, appearing in the lobby. Lois only ignored him as she continued to speak.

"I've been reading some of the things that have been happening in Starling, with that whole Undertaking thing and then there's that vigilante, what's his name uh—" she looked over to Clark who looked at her with a furrowed brow because he knew she knew the answer to that question. "The hood, is it?" Lois turned back to Katie who still looked annoyed. "It's just vigilantes have been popping up all of sudden with the hood-"

"The Arrow." Katie corrected.

"Right, the Arrow and the Batman and even Metropolis has it's own savior in Superman."

"Never heard of him. " Katie replied moving around the woman, finally getting to the desk to speak to the clerk.

"Lois we should go." Clark said trying to pull the woman with him as the manager spots them, the look on his face not a good one.

"Hi, this may sound like a strange request, but I need to see the security footage from the hotel's restaurant from last night." Katie said and the clerk looked at her for a moment as if trying to decide if she were serious or not.

"Um, we don't usually let guests see that stuff." the young man replied.

"And we get that." Bruce said moving to stand beside Katie. "It's just we're sort of missing a friend of ours and the last place we saw him was in that restaurant. I mean there has to be something we could do to see that footage, right?" the young man still looked unsure, even lifting his eyes over to Lois and Clark who were trying their best to pretend as if they weren't listening.

"Ms. Lane! I've warned you countless times. You are not welcome here!" Mr. Dubois snapped angrily walking over, but when he spotted Katie and Bruce, he suddenly calmed and plastered on a smile. "Mr. Wayne, Ms. Robins, please forgive my outburst and I hope Ms. Lane and her partner haven't been pestering you." Katie and Bruce turned to the man before looking over to the pair of reporters who were watching them as well.

"No, they're fine." Katie replied before turning to Bruce. "Let's go." the man nodded and Lois and Clark watched as the pair headed toward the restaurant.

"What do you think a pair of blue bloods would need to see security footage from that restaurant?" Lois whispered over to Clark whose eyes were still on Katie and Bruce until they disappeared into the restaurant.

"Ms. Lane!"

"Mr. Dubois, before you start—" the woman went over to try to explain themselves to the man, while Clark stood there, and unknowingly to everyone around him, listening to a conversation that no human person should possibly hear.

_"It has to be that woman from last night." _he heard Katie whisper to Bruce. _"She must have set him up." _

_"We need something more than hunch Robins." _

_"Well my friend has been kidnapped and I need to find him, so at the moment my hunch is all I have. Let's just talk to the bartender. Maybe he remembers something about the woman." _

"Clark, we have to go." Lois said grabbing the man's arm and pulling him toward the door. "Dubois is threatening to call the cops again and I don't need those troubles. We're going to have to find out what Lex and Bruce were meeting about some other way." Clark didn't say anything as he let the woman pull him, but he did cast a glance back thinking that he probably shouldn't veer too far from Ms. Robins and Mr. Wayne.

Bruce and Katie headed over to speak to the bartender, just as Bruce's phone rang. He glanced down to the screen, and stopped.

"You go ahead, I have to take this." Bruce said. Katie just nodded before walking over while the man hung back to answer his phone. "Oliver—"

_"I'm checking in. How's everything going?"_

"It could be better." Bruce replied looking over to Katie who was speaking with the bartender. "Ethan Mills has been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom from Katie." and heavy sigh escaped Oliver and Bruce could practically see the scowl that had taken over the man's face. "I'm handling it."

_"I want her on a plane back to Starling!"_

"Like that is ever going to happen. She's determined to find Ethan and bring him back and nothing I could say or do could change that."

_"This could be a trap!"_ Oliver snapped angrily. _"I knew her going there without me—"_

"Oliver, I said I was handling it and I will."

_"Bruce if something happens to her—"_

"Nothing will happen to her Oliver. Trust me."

_"You're the last person I trust. Find Ethan and get them both on a plane back to Starling, or I'm coming to Metropolis and no one will like that, trust me."_ and with that the man hung up the phone.

Bruce shook his head before looking over to see Katie headed his way. She didn't look happy and so he walked over to meet her.

"So?"

"He remembers them talking and then leaving together. He said he's never seen the woman before, and the only thing distinctive he remembers is a tattoo on her back. Says it's the trade mark of a local gang that calls themselves the Intergang. Heard of them?"

"Yeah, they're a big deal around here." Bruce said looking down to his watch. "Look if I'm going to get this money then I have to leave now." he looks up to Katie who has a familiar look in her eyes. "Robins, wait for me, alright. We will do this together." she looked at him for a moment with a slight hesitation, but she nods. "Alright, I will be back tonight to pick you up." he places a hand on her shoulder in hopes to comfort her, but he knows it won't work. The situation is beyond comforting. "We will find him." Katie just nodded before the man turned and left. He stood waiting for the valet to bring his car around, as he took out his cell phone and dialed a familiar number. "Mr. Fox."

_"Mr. Wayne, enjoying your vacation?"_

Bruce almost wanted to laugh at the question because his time away from Gotham was anything but a vacation.

"Absolutely. I'm actually calling because I need some help with something. I need you to look into someone for me."

_"Even on vacation you find something to get into, don't you ?"_

"I can't help it, I guess. Take this name down. Ethan Mills. Doctor in Starling City, Hospital name is Glades Memorial."

_"And what exactly am I supposed to be looking for."_

"I don't know yet." Bruce replied when his car finally arrived. "But I'm sure you'll know it when you find it."

Katie felt like she wanted to jump out of her skin when she returned back to her room. She hated the waiting and not knowing what was happening. She wanted to act. Before she knew it, she was pacing back and forth across her room, dreading whenever she saw Oliver's number appear on her phone. She didn't answer, because she doesn't want to lie to him. The moment she tells Oliver what's happening, he's going to freak out and either demand that she return to Starling, or tell her that he's coming to Metropolis. Both of those scenarios only end with one thing and that was proving that Katie couldn't handle this. That she needed someone to swoop in and save her when the tough got going and she knew that wasn't true.

When night finally came, Katie nearly jumped to her feet when Bruce's number appeared on her phone. She brought the phone to her ear already headed to the door.

"I'm on my way down."

_"Robins, wait."_ Bruce said and Katie stopped walking. _"Despite what you may believe, this is for the best."_ Katie growled angrily as she stormed out of her room toward the elevator. She should've known he was going to pull a stunt like this and do this on his own. "I will handle this."

"Screw you Bruce." Katie snapped angrily before ending the call. When Katie finally made it outside, she went to the curb about to flag down a taxi,but a familiar face appeared.

"Ms. Robins?" Katie turned to see the familiar face of Samuel, her driver. "I was just filling up the car, did you need to go somewhere?" she looked at the man for a moment, before simply nodded.

"Actually yes, I do." Katie replied and the man gave a nod before going to fetch the car. She could feel the nervousness, and adrenaline pumping underneath her skin as she's once again overcome with the possible fate that could fall to Ethan because of her. She doesn't know what she will do if something happens to him.

"Uh, Dr. Robins?" a voice speaks from behind her and she's slightly startled. She turns to see someone she didn't expect to see again. "Clark Kent, with the Daily Planet."

"Look, I'm not doing some interview." Katie replied turning away from the man who seemed to be without his big mouthed partner.

"That's not why I'm here." the man said and Katie simply turned away, wondering what was taking Samuel so long to bring the car around. "Earlier today, I heard you ask about the security footage in the hotel's restaurant. You were looking for your missing friend."

"About time." Katie muttered when she spotted the car nearing. "Look, just forget what you heard."

"It's just, Metropolis can be a dangerous place, and if you really think your friend could be in trouble then maybe you should call the police."

"Thanks for the advice Mr. Kent." Katie replied just as the car pulled up beside of her. "But I think I will be fine without it." Without another word, Katie hurried into the car before Samuel could step out to open her door.

Clark stood there on the side of the curb, and watched as the car pulled off. He doesn't know why, but he feels the need to follow the woman and so he turns loosening his tie and heads for a nearby dark alley.

The drive seemed too long which annoyed Katie to no end, but soon they were no longer surrounded by the tall buildings of the city. Katie stared out the window to see a more rural part of the city that was covered with grass and trees. She looked down to her phone to see that they were nearing the coordinates.

"Samuel stop here." Katie spoke and the man complied, even though he seemed hesitant to do so.

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am, who are you meeting here?" Katie leaned forward to look out the window to the large, old rickety factory that still held the letter RI above it.

"I'm not really sure yet." Katie replied turning to the man. "When I get out of this car, I want you to turn this car around and go back to the hotel."

"Miss, I don't think—"

"I know you know next to nothing about me, but trust me when I say that I am a very capable woman, and I can take care of myself." Katie said and she could see the uncertainty on the man's face, but he nodded anyway. "Thank you Mr. Baker."

"Call me Sam, ma'am."

"Then call me Katie." she replied before taking a deep breath and stepping out of the car. She stood there and watched as Samuel turned the car around and drove off disappearing into the darkness. Once he was gone, she turned back to the building and began walking.

It wasn't until she was just a couple of feet away that the sound of gunfire met her ears. Her heart rammed in her chest and Katie did the one thing she probably shouldn't have done. She stopped thinking and just ran inside. The further she ran, the closer she got to the gunfire until all sound suddenly stopped. When the silence surrounded her, Katie stopped moving and listened. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to quiet her breaths.

Soon she heard the sound of quick footsteps and turned in the darkness just as someone ran right past her. She could barely see their face, but from what she could see it was someone unfamiliar and if they were running, then that means her friend Bruce was definitely already here and so she kept running until she seemed to run right in the middle of gun fire. She had to drop to the ground to dodge it.

"The big bad bat in my city!" a voice echoed from somewhere around her.

"Where is Ethan Mills!" Katie heard Bruce's rasp, but she figures he's not Bruce at the moment.

"Well if you're here then you better believe he's dead!" the voice called back and something inside Katie snapped. She stood to her feet, and letting her ears guide her. That's when she heard movement nearby and quickly, but quietly went to check it out. That's when she spotted him. The man hiding behind a pillar with a gun in his hand. He didn't see her, which Katie was going to use to her advantage.

"For your sake, you better hope he's not!" The Batman called and the man laughed loudly and before he knew what was happening, a fist was colliding with jaw. He tried to recover, gripping the gun tighter, but Katie had already grabbed his wrist and began slamming it repeatedly against the pillar until the gun dropped from his hand. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back before throwing his fist to hit her, but she dipped slightly to dodge him. She tossed a kick to his stomach causing him to stumble back. Katie dropped down and picked up his gun, before pointing it at him.

"Wait!" the man pleaded lifting his hands in surrender. "Please don't shoot me. This wasn't even my idea."

"I don't care whose idea it was!" Katie snapped angrily. "Where is Ethan."

"The roof." the man replied and Katie dropped the gun then turned quickly to search for a way to the roof. She found a stairwell that seemed never ending, but she didn't stop. Every muscle in her body was aching by the time she reached the top, but it wasn't going to slow her down. She burst through the door where she spotted a barely conscious Ethan being held with a gun beside his head by a woman with platinum blonde hair.

"He said you were more, but I did not believe him." the woman said with a breathy German accent.

"Let him go!" Katie snapped angrily taking a step forward, but not getting too close. "It's me you want right, I'm the one worth millions."

"You know what's funny? You still think this is about money?" The woman replied before tossing Ethan to the ground before aiming her gun at Katie. "This is bigger than money. I was dead before I even agreed to this, so I might as well stick it to the bastard one last time."

Katie closed her eyes because in this moment there was nothing else for her to do but wait for her end. She expected it to be quick, and yet too much time was passing. Soon she heard a grunt, and she opened her eyes to see the woman standing with the blade of a sword in her chest. Her eyes were still opened as the blade was quickly pulled out, causing the woman to finally fall to her knees, and drop dead. Katie's eyes should be on the woman who just mere seconds prior held her life in her hands. It was the man clothed in the familiar dark clothing of a league she had escaped, standing there holding a bloody sword looking back at her that held her gaze. She found herself speechless. She wanted to say something, ask so many questions, but nothing came out of her mouth and before she knew it the man had ran to the edge of the roof and simply jumped off. Once the wave of shock passed, Katie took a step forward to see if the man was truly gone, but before she could even make it to the edge of the roof something unexpected happened.

There was something in the sky and she had to lift her head to try to see what it was. It wasn't a bird or a plane, that much she knew. She had to squint to try to see past the dark sky, but soon it wouldn't matter, because soon what was in the sky came crashing down on the roof. At some point Katie figured that she had passed out or began hallucinating, because she couldn't believe that there standing in front of her was a man dressed in a red and blue spandex suit, a red cape billowing behind him. Her eyes traveled over the man, before landing on the "S" that marked his chest and then it suddenly hit her.

"You're—" she pointed a finger at the man in both shock and disbelief. "You're the guy. The—" she tried to remember what the reporter woman said before and it struck her. "Superguy!"

"Something like that." he replied with a shake of his head as he let his eyes scan over the roof from the woman now dead with a hole in her chest, to the man lying with a heart beat that was slowing with every passing second. He brought his eyes back to Katie who stood still staring at him with wide eyes. "And who are you exactly? What happened here?"

-"That woman-" Katie said pointing to the woman lying on the ground and an instinct she forgot she had kicked in. She ran over and dropped down beside the woman, and searched for a pulse. "Shit." she quickly stood to her feet and ran over to Ethan whose eyes were open, but not focused. "Don't worry, you're going to be alright?" she looked over her shoulder to see the man still standing there as if trying to figure out what was going on. "It's a long story that I would love to tell you about Mr. Superguy sir, but my friend here needs a hospital. I think he's been drugged and I don't know with what, but—" soon the door to the roof burst open and Katie was standing between two heroes. The Batman and Superman both stared at each other for a moment.

"I should've known you were tangled up in all of this." Superman said staring at the man dressed as bat. "I thought we had an agreement. You come to this city, my city, then I'm the first person you see."

"Sorry, but some things just can't be helped." Batman replied before looking over to Katie who looked utterly lost by all of this."Why don't you be a pal—" he turned back to Superman. "And take our friend here to the hospital." Superman sent the man a glare, but walked over and hiked Ethan into his arms. He looked between Katie and Bruce before shooting back off into the sky. Katie turned to Bruce with wide eyes. "So yeah, we know each other." Katie opened her mouth to speak but her cell phone rang interrupting her. She quickly took out her phone to see a familiar number and she brought it to her ear.

"John, what's wrong?"

_"Katie, it's Oliver. You need to get back to Starling as soon as possible."_


	12. CONVERSATIONS WITH GHOSTS

**Chapter 12**

**CONVERSATIONS WITH GHOSTS  
**

_"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."  
_

_-Stephen King_

* * *

There are some people in the world that you try, with everything you have, to make the impossible happen. For Katie, Oliver Queen was one of those people. No, Oliver Queen was the person. So when she got a call saying that he needed her, everything else went out the window. She didn't care about flying men, or crazy people who kidnapped her coworker. Her only concern was getting on a plane and getting home to the man that she loved. The moment the words came out of John's mouth, she turned to Bruce.

"I need your plane now."

"What—"

"Now Bruce!" she practically demanded and it had to be something in her eyes, because the man didn't argue any further. He made a call and Katie was off.

For some reason the plane ride to Starling seemed longer than it should be. Katie's knee bounced as she stared out the window. She didn't give John a chance to actually explain what was wrong, because she was afraid that it would probably drive her insane to know what was happening and not be there to do anything.

The moment the plane landed, Katie was to her feet and practically running to get off. She left all her luggage in Metropolis, so there was nothing that would get in her way. She flagged down the first cab she saw, and told them to get to the foundry as soon as possible. Her heart raced in her chest when she spotted the club up ahead. When the car finally stopped, she pulled whatever money was in her pocket and practically tossed it at the driver. She was sure it was probably more than what she owed, but at the moment it just didn't matter. Katie ran toward the basement entrance of the club, ignoring her aching muscles. When she burst through the entrance of the basement, everyone jumped to their feet, but Katie didn't see them. She saw the man lying on the metal slab, unconscious. She rushed over placing her fingers on the inside of his wrist, and letting her eyes trail over the tubes that were in his skin.

"Katie." John said, his voice trying to speak calmly to the woman who was clearly upset. "He's fine, he's just—"

"Why isn't he waking up?" Katie asked not looking to anyone but Oliver. It meant she didn't care who answered it, as long as it is answered.

"I think he was given a very large dose of whatever this mystery super villain is juiced on. It caused intravenous coagulation, which means—" Katie turned to the man who was speaking who definitely wasn't John. "Well you know what it means. You're the doctor, right?" Katie didn't say anything as her brow furrowed in confusion, before turning to John. "You're probably wondering who I am?"

"No, I'm still wondering why Oliver's eyes aren't open." Katie says choosing to speak to John and not the stranger in the room. "John, speak please."

"We found the guy, Oliver went after him, but the guy bested him. Injected him with this serum or whatever and left him for dead. Felicity called Barry—" John glanced over to the man who nodded. "Who was able undo what ever was happening to him."

"Coagulation?" Katie asked turning back to Barry. "How did you counteract that?"

"Well, there weren't many options, so I had to think on the fly which is not an easy thing to do in a very stressful situation. It's very difficult and—"

"Dude, I'm this close to murdering you. What did you do?!" Katie snapped angrily. Barry simply stepped aside revealing a box of rat poison.

"It was the only thing—"

"Stop talking." Katie once again interrupted the man before turning back to Oliver. "The warfarin in the poison helped stop the coagulation. That was a good idea." Katie placed a hand on the side of Oliver cheek. "How long has he been out?"

"Just a couple of hours, but his pulse seems to be back to normal." Barry replied and Katie glanced over to him and gave him a nod.

"Uh, I need my bag." Katie said looking over the medical area.

"I'll get it." Felicity said rushing over to grab the bag, and bringing it back to Katie. When Katie reached for the bag, Felicity noticed the bruising on her hands, and pulled the bag back. "What happened?" Katie didn't say anything before reaching forward and taking the bag from Felicity's hand. "Katie—"

"I need him to wake up before I deal with anything else, alright?" Katie said pulling the stethoscope from her bag.

After checking his pulse, and heart rate and a slew of other things, Katie found that Oliver really was fine. He just needed to wake up and for some reason he wasn't. The others had dispersed, giving her a moment alone with him. Katie stop above him, her eyes searching for something, anything to explain why he wasn't waking up. She found nothing, which only angered and saddened her at the same time. She dropped her forehead to rest on top of his and closed her eyes.

"You have to wake up Liver. I need you here, ok?" she whispered before placing a kiss to his forehead.

The others soon found themselves watching Katie pace back and forth beside Oliver. She would glance over to him ever so often, but never would slow her pace. It was when her phone rang, did she stop and pull it from her pocket already knowing who it was.

"How is he Bruce?"

_"He's good. A little shaken up, but I guess some people get that way after being kidnapped."_ Bruce replied._ "They're going to be releasing him soon, so we should be headed home later today."_

"I want all of his medical expenses taken care of."

_"Already done. I've even had a little talk with our Dr. Mills, and I think I've convinced him to keep this little trip hush hush."_

"And by convinced you mean bribe don't you?"

"_Robins—_"

"He's my friend. I don't want him to feel as if he's just another person I can buy off."

_"He's fine, he's happy and he has some fatter pockets. Right now I think it's time for you to start thinking about the future about my proposal."_

"Bruce I'm not coming to Gotham."

_"And when this happens again and doesn't end with the bad guys losing, then what?"_

"Then I deal with it. Look thanks for your help, the truth still remains that this is my problem and I will be the one to take care of it."

_"At some point you're going to have to admit that you can't do all of this on your own."_

"Maybe, but at some point isn't today. Get Ethan home safe and let him know that I'm sorry, and—"

_"It's still not your fault."_

"Yeah it is. I have to go. Text me when you guys make it."

Katie ended the call and glanced over to Oliver before once again resuming her pace beside his motionless body.

"Is she like this all the time?" Barry whispered over to Felicity who gave a tired smile. "She looks completely exhausted."

"She's not big on sleep." Felicity replied looking back over to the woman, before she remember something and turned back to the man. "Oh, and we should probably not mention that you-know-what that fell out of his hood.

"You mean the rin—"

"Don't even say it out loud." Felicity interrupted. glancing over to make sure Katie didn't hear. "Katie doesn't know, and she's not supposed to know."

"If she was out of town, why was he carrying it with him?" Barry asked and a smile came to Felicity's face.

"I think he really wants to ask, but he's either scared it's too soon, or afraid she won't say yes."

"Oh, well my lips are sealed."

It was John who finally walked over and caught Katie's arm to stop her from pacing. She sent him a pointed look as he handed an ice pack to her and slid a chair over for her to sit.

"You're not the boss of me." Katie muttered taking the ice pack and sitting down, an exhausted sigh escaping her lips as she looks back over to Oliver.

"So I'm guessing Metropolis wasn't the vacation you were hoping for?" John asked and Katie just shook her head.

"Let's just say I'm not even sure if most of what happened wasn't just a creation of my imagination." Katie replied as she looked down to her bruised knuckles. She looked up to Oliver, whose hand looked like it twitched, and she quickly jumps to her feet, letting the ice pack fall to the floor. "Hey, Liver can you hear me?" Oliver eyes snap open and he jumps up violently. "Hey, Liver you're alright!" Katie says trying to calm the man, placing her hands on the sides of his face. "Look at me for a moment." it does seem to calm him, his breaths slowing down.

"Twinkie." he croaks through a dry throat. She smiles before bringing her lips to his forehead. "What—" his head turned slightly and noticed the face of someone who shouldn't be here and he quickly jumps to his feet and lunges toward Barry.

"Oliver!" Felicity yells moving to stand between the man.

"What the hell is going on?!" Oliver snapped angrily as he glared over to the man. "What is he doing here?"

"You were injected with a blood coagulant." Felicity said

"You would've stroked out, but fortunately you have a very effective blood thinner lying around." Barry said before glancing over to the box nearby. "Warfarin, aka rat poison." Oliver turns to Katie as if to verify what he was just told.

"I called Katie, but she was too far and you didn't look like you could afford to wait." John added moving in closer as well.

"So I called Barry." Felicity said with a nod.

"The kid saved you life Oliver." John said, but Oliver shook his head still clearly upset.

"You told him who I am. That's my secret to tell." Oliver stated and Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but Katie held up a hand to stop her before she moved to stand in front of Oliver.

"Your blood was going to stop pumping through your veins and you were gonna die." Katie stated and Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but she continued. "There was no one here who could help you and so they did the one thing they could think of to save your life. You're not dead right now because of Barry Allen. I don't think someone who just saved your life would be excited to go rat you out."

"We don't know that." Oliver replied sending a sharp look to the CSI.

"Well how is this any different than you telling Felicity or John, hell even me."

"I did my research on all of you!" Oliver snapped turning back to the woman.

"I disappeared for four years! You didn't know if I was a Russian spy or an undercover clown!" Katie replied just as loud. "You're being an ass. You're alive and that's really all that I care about. Plus if you really think about it, some guy from Central City saying Oliver Queen is the vigilante is pretty far fetched."

"Plus I wouldn't do it." Barry added raising his hand slightly. "Look you don't have to thank me, but you should thank your friends because you're being a jerk." Oliver's glare went back to the man, causing an audible gulp. "Mr. Queen." Before Oliver could reply, his phone suddenly beeped. He walked over and looked down to a message from his mother.

"I have to go home." Oliver said, sounding completely worn before looking over to Felicity and John. "That man that I fought in the bunker, he has what he needs to mass produce the serum from the island, and we have to stop him." he turned to Katie and held out his hand. "You're coming with me." Katie stared at him for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"I am, but I'm not holding your hand Mr. Queen." Katie replied before walking past the man. He let out a sigh about to walk after her.

"He touched your skin when he grabbed your neck." Barry says, causing Oliver to stop and turn to the man with a look of annoyance."I was able to absorb the residual oils from his skin, which, when added to a gel-based polymer, might be able to recreate his fingerprint." Oliver just silently nods before turning and walking off.

When he's finally changed, he finds Katie in the bar with a cup of coffee in front of her. She's leaning on her hand, with her eyes closed and that's when he notices the bruising on her hand. He rushes over and takes her hand to get a closer look.

"What are you—" Katie turns to see the dark look he has as he looks from her hand to her eyes. "It's not a big deal."

"I told Bruce to keep you away from this!"

"It's not Bruce's fault, he tried to ditch me but I—" Katie stopped because she finally realized what he'd just said. "You told Bruce to keep me away from what, exactly?"

"Twinkie, look—"

"So you and Bruce talk now? Are you guys friends all of a sudden?"

"It's not what you think. Yes, Bruce did call me and tell me about Ethan's kidnapping, which I'm still wondering why it wasn't you who told me."

"I guess it doesn't matter now because your best bud Bruce keeps you in the loop I guess." Katie replied with a shake of her head before sliding from her stool. "I'm going home." she began walking toward the door when suddenly her phone beeped and she slipped it from her pocket. "It's Thea. She wants to know if I'm back in town, and if so, could I come by the mansion." Katie glances over to Oliver who walks over to look down to the message.

"Let's just go and we'll talk about this later." Oliver sighs and Katie looked at him for a moment, but just rolled her eyes and walked with him out the door.

The car ride was brutally silent, but ever so often Katie caught the sound of one of Oliver's labored breaths and she would turn to him.

"If I were to merely suggest you go to a hospital—"

"I would say that I'm fine and don't need one. Plus I have my own personal doctor at my beckoned call." Oliver replied glancing over to her with a tired smile.

"Lets just see how long that lasts." Katie replied as they pulled up in front of the house. The moment the car stopped, Katie stepped out not letting Oliver even get a chance to reply. He quickly got out as well, rushing to catch her arm before she could step inside the house.

"It's not what you think." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. "We will talk about this, but later." he glanced over to the house and sighed before looking back to Katie. He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned away before his lips could meet hers.

"Oh, it will not be that easy Mr. Queen." Katie said before walking off toward the door. "Secrets and kisses just don't blend well. One of them has to be eliminated and since you want to talk later, then I guess it's going to have to be the kisses."

"You're being unreasonable." Oliver replied walking up to open the door for her to walk in. They both walked in to see Moira standing below a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

"Is it really Christmas?" Katie whispered over to Oliver who looked at her with a shrug before Moira turned finally noticing the pair.

"Hey Mom, is everything ok?"

"I don't know." Moira replied walking over to them. "Your sister has locked herself in her room and she won't talk to me."

"She sent me a text saying she needed to see me." Katie said glancing between Oliver and Moira. "Maybe I should go up and see what's going on."

"I'll come with you." Oliver said.

"I think I can find my way." Katie countered before giving a nod to Moira before turning and heading for the stairs.

"Are you two fighting?" Moira asked once Katie was gone.

"No, we're fine."

"Well given the last gala that we threw, I think we're going to skip this year's Christmas party." Moira said and Oliver not really caring one way or the other, simply nodded before turning and going to catch up to Katie.

When Oliver finally spotted Katie, she was walking slowly down the hall running a finger along her slightly swollen hand.

"If I just mentioned the mere possibility of you going to a hospital—" Oliver said walking along side of her, smiling at the annoyed look on her face.

"It's not broken, just hurts like hell." Katie replied when Oliver suddenly grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her bruises.

"Better?"

"You can't be sweet when I'm upset with you." she replied before storming off down the hall toward Thea's room. Oliver couldn't help the smile that came to his face as he followed behind her just as she knocked at the door. "Speedy it's me and Liver, open up!"

"Is mom with you?" Thea called from the other side of the door. Katie and Oliver shared a look of confusion before turning back to the door.

"Uh, no." just moments later Thea opened the door just a crack to look out and make sure it really was just Oliver and Katie.

"I didn't want mom to see."

"See what?" Oliver asked and Thea simply opened the door wider to let them inside. That's when they saw Roy lying on Thea's bed, an arrow sticking from his leg, and blood everywhere.

"What the hell happened?" Katie asked rushing over to the man's side and placed a hand on his head.

"Vigilante decided to use him as target practice." Thea said walking beside her before looking over to Oliver. "You're right, the guy's a psycho." Katie sent a silent glare over her shoulder to Oliver who tried to ignore it, but he couldn't.

"Why isn't he at the hospital?" Katie asked glancing over to the young girl who she didn't recognize sitting beside Roy. She just shook her head before bending down slightly to get a better look at his leg.

"Because around here, the hood is like a bullet and a sure fire way to get the police involved." Roy said.

"Plus what's the point of having a friend who's a doctor if I can't call on them every now and then to pull arrows out of my boyfriend." Thea added.

"That's not funny Thea." Katie muttered not even looking over to the woman. "This is serious. If not treated it could get infected and an infection could kill him." she stood up straight and turned to Oliver. "I need your help." Oliver sighed before walking over hesitantly unsure if she really needed his help or wanted him close enough for her to hit him. Katie continued to glare at him before turning back to Roy. "Alright Roy, this is going to hurt."

"My anger is dulling the pain." Roy muttered.

"This will dull it better." the girl said from beside him, holding up a bottle of vodka. Roy grabbed the bottle and took a quick swig, before Katie grabbed it and poured it on his leg.

"Alright." she said turning to Oliver. "Do it." Oliver simply nodded as he walked over and grabbing a nearby towel, before using it to pull the arrow from Roy's leg. The moment the arrow was out, Katie quickly grabbed the towel and pressed it against the wound. "Here put pressure on this." the girl nodded before placing her hands on the towel. "I need some medical supplies that I have over at my house." Thea and Roy nodded before Katie turned, sending a final glare to Oliver as she passed him.

"Are you two like fighting?" Thea asked.

"No, we're fine." Oliver replied before turning and going after her.

Katie stormed out of Thea's room angrily, not daring to look back. She tried to ignore the prickling of her skin as yet another thing took a crap on her day. She thought she was holding it together pretty well, but then something happened. A sudden dizzy spell she didn't expect caused her to fall against the wall.

_"How much longer do you think you can keep this up?"_ a familiar voice asked with a chuckle and Katie looked up where she saw her own personal ghost, Lian. Katie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before releasing a heavy breath.

"Katie!" she heard Oliver call, but she didn't move. At the moment she was focusing on stopping the voice in her head from breaking her in half. After a few moments, its seemed as if she had succeeded. Everything seemed a bit quieter, except for a distant voice. Katie opened her eyes when she realized she recognized the voice speaking. It was Oliver, but she didn't hear anyone else. When she turned back down the hall, she indeed spotted Oliver, but he was staring at the spot in front of him like someone was there.

"Who are you talking to?" Katie asked and Oliver lifted his eyes to her and just shook his head.

"I don't—" he blinked a couple of times and Katie walked over to him. "The rat poison—"

"Shit." Katie muttered with a shake of her head before looking to Oliver. "Hallucinations?" he nodded and Katie sighed. "It's a side effect, is there anything else?"

"At the moment, no."

"Who do you see?" Katie asked out of curiosity.

"A woman, Shado, she was on the island with me." Oliver replied and Katie turned away slightly. "What?"

"Nothing." Katie says turning back to the man. "It should pass, but I should check your blood just to make sure." she glanced down the hall and sighed. "After I patch Roy's leg." she suddenly punched his arm, not as hard as she wanted, but it got her point across.

"I deserved that and I already called Diggle for Roy's leg." Oliver said and Katie turned to him in confusion. "And I will go to the foundry later and let Barry check my blood."

"Are you firing me?"

"No, but I think right now you and I just need a few minutes."

"In those few moments does the the truth about what's going on with you and Bruce come up?" Katie asked and Oliver just didn't say anything. "Then I'm good. If John is helping Roy and you're turning to Mr. Allen, then fine. I'm going home." and with that she turned on her heel and stalked away. Oliver growled under his breath before following after her.

"Oh, are you leaving?" Moira asked as Katie headed for the door.

"Uh, yeah." Oliver said walking up as well. "Thea's fine, so we were just going to head over to the house." Katie scoffed before turning and storming out the front door, letting it slam behind her.

"Honey, I really think you two are fighting." Moira said. Oliver turned to his mother with a slight look of frustration.

"No really, we're fine." Oliver says moving toward the door. "Uh, I'll talk to you later."

Once he stepped outside, he spotted Katie all the way across the lawn headed for the driveway. "Twinkie!" she didn't stop or turn and so he had to run to catch up to her. When he finally did catch up to her, they were walking down the sidewalk. "What happened in Metropolis?"

"A lot of fucked up shit," she muttered not sparing a glance. "But I'm sure your pal Bruce will fill you in later."

"Hey, would you just stop!" Oliver snapped grabbing Katie's arm and moving to stand in front of her.

"It's me, right?" Katie asked with a shake of her head. "There's always something about me. People die or they get kidnapped, and then people tell me it's not my fault, but it is." she moved to walk around him, but he wouldn't let her. "Let me go."

"Fine, but I'm going with you." Oliver replied simply taking her hand and continuing their walk.

"There's a mad man with an unnatural amount of strength roaming around this city trying to expose people to a dangerous serum. That's where your focus should be." she pulled her hand from his grasp and turned to him. "You said you can't be that guy you need to be when you put on that hood when I'm around. Right now, right here is not where you should be."

"Fine, just let me take you home." Oliver replied. Katie looks to him for a moment before turning and walking. The rest of the walk was silent, neither one sure what else to say. Oliver would glance over to Katie every now and then, noticing the sadness that was behind her eyes which just made him think her trip was worse than he believes. When they finally arrived at the house, Oliver caught Katie's arm before she could step through the door. "Just let me check it out first." he replied and Katie rolled her eyes and just waved him off to go inside. Katie impatiently waited on her porch while Oliver was inside.

_"How much longer do you think it's gonna take?" a voice speaks, but she doesn't turn. She doesn't acknowledge the man who isn't really there. "Before this lie you're so intent on living gets to him and the others. Look how close it got to your doctor friend." Lian spoke and Katie looked over to the side of the porch where her own hallucination stood. "It's only a matter of time. If you're not careful, you're going to get them all killed." _

The front door opens and Katie turns to see Oliver standing in front of her. She takes a deep breath hoping all of the warring emotions inside of her aren't showing on her face.

"It's clear." he says and Katie nods before slipping in past him. "You're apart of the team, right?" it was a random question that caused Katie to stop walking and turn to him.

"What?"

"The team, you're apart of it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, come with me to the foundry and help us find this madman before he does anymore harm to our city." At this point Oliver was trying anything to not leave this woman alone.

"Question, "Katie takes a few steps toward him. "Are you asking me to do this because you really want my help, or do you just want to keep an eye on me?"

"Maybe it's both." Oliver replied closing the distance between them. "Is that a problem? That I care about the wellbeing of my girlfriend?"

"Look, whatever, I have been in these clothes for days, and I need to shower and not feel like crap anymore." Katie says before turning and stalking up the stairs. Once she was gone, Oliver snaked his phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

_"Queen, I guess this means you're not dead?" came the voice of Bruce Wayne._

"Funny. What the hell happened to her in Metropolis?"

_"I guess if you're asking me, then it means she hasn't told you."_

"Told me what? I know you tried to keep her from finding Ethan, but she came anyway. What else happened?"

_"Ethan was kidnapped by people who wanted money from her. That's what happened. That's what's eating her up inside."_

"I know." Oliver replies glancing up the stairs. "How's Ethan?"

_"Fine, we're heading to Starling as we speak."_

_"_Any information on the kidnappers?"

_"Only that they were apart of the Intergang. I think Robins may know a little more, but you're the one who is going to have to get her to talk." _

"That's easier said than done."

_"Well you're the one who decided to take on the challenge, right?"_

After her shower, Katie changed and just sat on her bed staring at the empty space in front of her. Fears and anxieties that she hadn't felt in a while were starting to creep back up inside of her. She was pulled from her thoughts by her door opening and in walking Oliver.

"Before you start, I did knock." he stated. "I was about to head over to the foundry to see what Felicity and Barry have found out." Katie looked at him for a moment before standing to her feet. He moved to stand in front of her, once again attempting to coax her out of her anger toward him. She looked up to his eyes, not moving and a small smile came to his face. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes Mr. Queen I do." Katie sighed before walking around him out the door. He stood there for just a moment before turning and following after her.

It didn't take long for them to return to the foundry where they found both Barry and Felicity hovering around the computers. They were about to walk over, when Katie grabbed Oliver's arm.

"I need to draw that blood." Katie said and Oliver simply nodded before walking over to the table and taking a seat.

"What's happening?" Felicity asked walking over.

"I think the rat poison is causing Mr. Queen to hallucination." Katie replied walking over to her medical cabinet.

"What's with the Mr. Queen all of a sudden?" Oliver asked and Katie looked over to him with a quirked brow and Oliver had to assume it was her way showing him that she really was upset with him for hiding his contact with Bruce. "Never mind."

"Wait, what hallucinations?" Felicity asked turning to Oliver. "What are you seeing?"

"Shado." Oliver replied. "This woman who was marooned with me on the island."

"Why?" Katie asked walking back over to the man and he turned to her with a look of confusion. "Why her?"

"I—" Oliver cleared his throat with a shake of his head. "I don't know." when he looked back to Katie she stared t him with narrowed eyes and he just knew she knew he was lying. Of course she does. She simply scoffs before walking over and beginning to clean the intended area on his arm. Felicity looks between the pair noticing the obvious hostility.

"Are you two fighting?" she asked and Oliver looked over to her and shook his head.

"We're fine." he replied in annoyance for what felt like the one hundredth time.

Felicity backed away, holding her hands up in surrender. "Alright, there just seems to be some hostility in this general vicinity." she turned and headed back over to her computers, just as John arrived.

"How's Roy?" Katie asked looking over to the man.

"Fine. I gave him some of those pain relievers and he was dozing off when I left. "John replied tossing off his jacket.

"Good." Katie replied turning back to Oliver's arm.

"What's happening here?"

"Oliver is hallucinating from the rat poison and now Katie is drawing some blood to see if there's any signs." Barry spoke from his spot where he's been observing. John glanced over to the man with a slight smirk. "You know what I don't get? Why don't you have a mask?"

"Because he likes wearing make up." Katie replied smirking at the glare Oliver was sending her as she stuck the needle into his arm.

"Not to tell you how to do your vigilanteing," Barry added walking over to the man. "but the grease paint thing? It's a poor identity concealer."

"So find me a mask that conforms perfectly to my face and doesn't affect my ability to aim while I'm on the run. " replied his eyes staring intently at the woman in front of him.

"You should look into a compressible micro fabric. It could be great." Barry said, but at this point Oliver was barely listening. Barry looked at the man for a response, but none came.

"I wouldn't bother." John muttered up beside the man. "He's in Twinkie land at the moment." the man chuckled before walking over to Felicity.

"What's Twinkie land?" Barry asked glancing over to John before turning back to Oliver who seemed enamored with Katie at the moment. When she was finished drawing his blood, she bandaged his arm and brought her eyes to his.

"Done, Mr. Queen." she was about to walk away, but Oliver caught her arm.

"You can stop with the Mr. Queen you know. You're upset, I get it."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that with kisses, also goes loving nicknames like Liver. As long as there are secrets, then you don't get either." Katie replied before turning to go test his blood. Oliver wasn't ready to give up that easily and hopped off the table before walking toward her.

"I've found Cyrus Gold!" Felicity announced and Oliver turned stopped and turned to her.

"Who is Cyrus Gold?" he asked begrudgingly tearing himself away from his path toward Katie and over to Felicity.

"The human weapon that left you nearly dead the other night." John replied dryly, glancing over to Oliver. "The kid did manage to pull his print off your neck."

Katie probably should be listening to what was being said, but at the moment her focus was on Oliver's blood sample. It was a nice distraction from the craziness she's been through for the past couple of days. Once the test had started, she finally lifted her head to see what was going on with the others.

"I got this." Oliver said and that caught Katie's attention.

"Got what exactly?" Katie asked and all eyes went to her. "Sorry, I was busy and missed what was happening?" she turned to Oliver. "What do you got?"

"Felicity and Barry found our guy and now I'm going to check it out." he replied and Katie looked at him with wide eyes.

"I don't think so." Katie says with a shake of her head.

"I'm sorry."

"No, you heard me right." Katie replied as she walked around the table and over to him. "You're hallucinating, meaning you going out there is dangerous."

"Oliver's she's right." John added. "Plus it's just recon. Why don't you let me handle this."

"Fine." Oliver replied after a brief pause. "But I'm coming as your back up." he turned to Katie. "Is that alright with you, doctor?"

"Would it matter if is wasn't, Mr. Queen?" Katie countered before turning and heading back over to check on the test. Oliver simply shook his head before turning to Diggle and nodding toward the door. Once they were gone, Barry glanced over to Katie before turning to Felicity.

"They're fighting. "The woman answered the question she knew he was about to ask.

The basement fell into silence, and Barry couldn't help but glance over to Katie, a question burning on the tip of his tongue.

"The bruises on her hand." Barry whispered over to Felicity who was slightly startled by the interruption. "What's that about?" Felicity glanced over to Katie, who had now taking up her nervous pace as she waited for the results of the blood test.

"I'm still not sure." Felicity replied before standing to her feet and walking in front of her. "Can we talk?" Katie glanced over to the woman, but didn't say anything. "So I figured right, you still are upset with me for telling Oliver the truth." Katie just kept pacing, not even uttering a word. "Well, I'm not sorry. I told you I was uncomfortable keeping something that big from him and you promised that when we knew the truth, that you would tell him. How am I the bad guy?" Katie finally stopped and turned to the woman. "He deserved to know."

"I know." Katie sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "He deserved to know and I should've told him when I knew the truth and I shouldn't have put you in that position and for that I'm sorry." Felicity stared with wide eyes, clearly not expecting that response.

"Oh, ok." she said before a smile came to her face. "Good. I'm glad that's all cleared up." the woman took a couple of steps forward. "Now tell me what happened in Metropolis." Katie waved toward the chairs beside them and they both took a seat before Katie divulged the interesting happenings of her vacation to Metropolis. Once she was done, Felicity stared in slight shock. "Does Oliver know?"

"I'm guess he does, since he and Bruce are bosom buddies all of a sudden." Katie said with a shake of her.

"That's so weird. Bruce never mentioned a thing and he's been parked on my couch for weeks." Felicity replied and Katie turned to the woman in confusion. "You had no idea Bruce has been in Starling, have you?" Katie just shook her head. "But I'm guessing Oliver has. I wonder what those two have gotten into?"

"You and I both Smoaks." Katie replied before letting out a yawn and turning back to the running test.

"This is getting ridiculous, you know that right?" Felicity asked, but Katie didn't even turn to her. "When do you start this therapy or whatever to figure out why you're afraid to go to sleep?"

"I don't need anyone to tell me what I already know." Katie says standing to her feet hoping to jolt some energy back into her body.

"But you may need someone to help you get past it." Felicity replied standing to her feet as well. "You keep this up and you're going to make yourself sick and no one here wants that to happen. Plus I'm positive if it does, then this city will lose a hero." Felicity walked back over to where Barry stood unsuccessfully pretending he wasn't listening. She just shook her head at the man before walking back over to see if John and Oliver have found anything.

Katie once again began pacing in hopes of ignoring the needs for sleep that was pulsating from her body.

"So is it like bad dreams?" Barry spoke, and Katie looked over to see him now standing beside her. She didn't say anything, but he knew he was right. "Felicity is right you know. When I was a kid, I used to have terrible nightmares. I talked to someone who was able to explain certain things and it got better."

"Were your dreams of killing someone with your bare hands Mr. Allen?" Katie asked glancing over to the man, not even breaking her stride. The man seemed to suddenly tense. "Or about being practically tortured for months?" Barry still didn't say anything, and Katie just shook her head. "Mr. Allen, no offense, but I doubt there is a therapist that can handle my version on crazy." Barry simply nodded before turning and leaving the woman to her pacing.

"On it!" Felicity said suddenly and Katie stopped and looked over to the woman who had picked up her cell phone.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Felicity said dialing the familiar number. "Oliver said to call for back up and that means only one person."

"Lance?" Katie said and Felicity simply nodded in response as she brought the phone to her ear.

Soon, John stumbled through the door, and Katie and Barry quickly ran over to help him inside. They brought him to a chair to sit.

"So I'm guess your recon turned into a whole lot more?" Katie asked and Diggle simply glared at her as she began searching for any broken bones. The man was plenty bruised, but other than that he was fine. When she was done examining him, she met his eyes. "You're lucky. You're going to live."

"I don't feel so lucky." John grimaced as he held his arm to his chest. Katie walked over to her medical cabinet and grabbed some pain killers before bringing them to the man.

"You're going to take these. They're going to knock you out and hopefully when you wake up, you only feel mildly sore." she looked over to Felicity and Barry. "You guys want to take him home?" they both nodded before each grabbed one of the man's arms and helped him to the door. Katie stood there for a couple of moments by her self, her mind trying everything it could to find a solution to their problem. This guy was good, he was strong and fast and could beat Oliver and Diggle. They were obviously coming at this wrong.

_Katie's back pressed against the cold brick wall of her new prison. There were cameras everywhere, but she thought she was doing a pretty good job at evading them. She was almost to her destination, which came in the form of double doors that led out of the ARGUS facility. When the coast was completely clear, Katie ran as fast as she could toward the door. She rose her fist that was wrapped in a torn bed sheet and began punching as hard as she could against the glass of the door. She kept hitting and hitting, not even causing a dent, but she didn't stop. She couldn't fail another escape attempt. _

_"That's enough Robins!" a deep male voice said from behind her. She finally gave up and dropped her hands to her side before turning to see three large agents standing in front of her. "Back to your room." _

_"You know how this goes." Katie says shaking the sheet from her hands. "If I'm going back to my cell then you better believe I'm not going down without a fight." _

_"Don't do this Robins." Another one of the men said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. "We have absolutely no problem hitting a woman. And we have orders not to take it easy on you." that caused a small smile that she didn't even know she had. _

_"Well that's good to know." Katie replied as she raised her fists as she glanced to the three men. She was outnumbered by three guys who looked like they could fit her in their pockets and yet she felt sorry for them. "Have you ever heard of the demon?" the question seemed to baffle the men standing in front of her. "He had many lessons and each and everyone of them I had to remember down to the letter." She tilted her head to the left and right as she stretched the muscles in her neck. " One lesson that comes to mind now is winning a supposed unwinnable situation. Does anyone here know how you win an unwinnable situation?" she waited for a reply, but the men only kept dark glares on her as they watched her movements closely. "The answer is there are no unwinnable situations." she quirked a brow and looked each man in the eyes. "So, who's first?" _

Katie walked over to the closet that was in the far corner of the basement and pulled it open to see the clothing of a part of her that seemed to be always trying to claw it's way out. Whenever the subject of her once again dawning the outfit came up, Oliver changed the subject. She didn't push as hard as she thought she would, because a part of her, a very small part held out hope for normal Dr. Katherine Robins, whose biggest battles happened in the operating room. That was a fool's dream and this trip to Metropolis only verified that.

"Maybe our Mr. Gold should meet Nura." Katie whispered the impossible thought. Suddenly her phone rang and she slipped it from her pocket to see Oliver's number. "Hey."

_"Hey, where are you?"_

"Still at the foundry. Where are you?"

_"Just came from seeing Lance. I gave him what we have on Gold, so hopefully the SCPD can gets some headway."_

"That's a very big maybe."

_"At the moment it's our only option."_

"What if it wasn't?" Katie asked as she turned back to the black hood. She reached forward and let her fingers slide across the material. "I have an idea that I want to run by you. Were you going home or were you coming back here?"

_"I was going to stop by the mansion to check on Roy before I came back to the club, so we could head home."_ Oliver replied. That wasn't the first time Oliver referred to her house as their home. He had actually made the reference quite a few times and every time it made those stupid girly butterflies go crazy inside of her.

"I can just meet you at the mansion." Katie replied heading for the back entrance of the basement.

"_How? You don't have a car. It's late and I don't want you alone._" Oliver spoke and Katie stopped walking._ "Hello?"_ Katie wanted to ask so many more questions about this sudden over protectiveness the man seemed to have taken on, but she's sure he'll only avoid the subject.

"I'm grabbing a cab and meeting you at the mansion, it won't—"

_"Twinkie."_ Oliver interrupted with that familiar stern tone. "_It's late and I would very much just like you to wait for me. Please."_

"What aren't you telling me Oliver?" Katie asked finally, tired of dancing around this invisible elephant. "Just tell me." he didn't say anything, but she did hear a sigh escape his lips and she could practically picture the hand sliding across the back of his head. "Alright, new plan. How about I go home and you call me when you're ready to tell me the truth." she ended the call without even giving him a chance to reply before heading for the door. She stopped before she actually left though. A sudden thought striking her. One of those thoughts you're supposed to throw away and forget. For some reason, Katie just couldn't. She looked over her shoulder to the closet, before walking over and snagging the black hood, and domino mask from it's prison and tucked it under her arm, before running over and grabbing a vile of something she thinks she could use before turning and not looking back as she left.

When Katie stepped outside, she glanced up to the sky that was slowly waking up and bringing the sun with it. Nura's name meant light, but she only came out at night. She would have to wait before she took a crack at Mr. Gold.

Oliver returned to the mansion, but kept quiet as to not wake anyone. He was going to head over to the house to see Katie, but figured she wanted a conversation he wasn't ready to have yet. He was still worried for her though. Ra's assassins were still out there, still lurking and he had no idea when they would make their move. His only solace came when the security system at the house sent him a message notifying him of Katie's arrival. It was a feature he had to practically beg Felicity to enable, and he was glad it worked. Oliver had long changed from his hood and tossed it into his bag that he kept in the trunk of his car. When he walked through the door, he fully intended to head upstairs to shower and try to get some sleep. That plan was thwarted the moment he heard movement from the living room that was now illuminated by their Christmas tree. Oliver slowly walked over, peering inside.

"Nice tree." came a familiar voice that made Oliver roll his eyes. "I almost forgot tis the season to be merry. I haven't really found anything to be merry about lately."

"What are you doing here Bruce?" Oliver asked flicking on the light to see the man just sitting on the couch looking just as exhausted. "Do you have news on Ra's?"

"I wish I did, but I knew it wouldn't be easy." Bruce replied standing to his feet and walking over to the mini bar to pour himself a drink. "I came by because we need to talk."

"That's what phones are for." Oliver snipped not in the mood to deal with this man at the moment. "And it's been a rough day, so if you wouldn't mind showing yourself to the door."

"Sure, but first we need to talk." Bruce replied bringing the glass to his lips. "It's time we started planning for the future."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean this place Oliver. She's vulnerable here. She's a walking target, just waiting for Ra's to make his move. It's time the tough decisions were made." Oliver stared at the man for a moment, still trying to understand what Bruce was trying to get at and then it hit him.

"You're still trying to get her to move to Gotham." Oliver stated with a shake of his head.

"I can protect her, keep her safe. I know how Ra's operates and know how he moves. It's what's going to be best for her in the long run."

"Nah." Oliver said with a shake of his head before walking over to the mini bar as well to pour himself a drink. "That's a pretty good excuse, but it's not the truth."

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into by going against this man. I'm trying to save you before you bite off way more than you can chew."

"Oh, so now this is you trying to help me?" Oliver asked with sarcastic chuckle. "So Katie packing up and heading to Gotham helps her and it helps me. Sounds like the perfect plan, except for one small problem."

"Oliver—"

"I will kill you with my bare hands if you even attempt to take her from me." Oliver said, his tone so serious that it caused a slight chill to run up Bruce's spine. "She's not going anywhere with you."

"Ethan Mills." Bruce said before downing the contents of his glass. "Kidnapped, beaten, drugged and is currently at home resting peacefully with a lump sum now transferred into his bank account."

"Your point?"

"You know for someone who claims to love her, you know absolutely nothing about her." Bruce replied stalking over to stand in front of the man. "Cause and effect. That's how it works with her. You know this. Ethan's kidnapping is going to change something. I know it and you know it. She's going to reevaluate things and one of those things is going to be if staying here is what is best for everyone."

"You don't know what you're talking about?"

"You haven't told her about the league because you already know what will happen. You know how her head works." Oliver's jaw clench as the sound of the man's voice was beginning to agitate him with every syllable that passed through his lips. Oliver's patience was running thin.

"I think it's time for you to leave." Oliver commanded and Bruce simply held up his hands before sitting down the glass.

"You're still holding out hope that this is going to end with you two riding off in the sunset." Bruce said as he gathered his coat and pulled it open. "I'm just trying to show you that it won't happen. If given the chance, Ra's won't let it happen. Think about this."

"Leave." Oliver ordered leaving absolutely no room in his tone for anything else but compliance. Bruce didn't say another word before turning and finally leaving.

Once Oliver was left alone, he dropped onto the couch and glanced up to the beautifully lit Christmas tree before he reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box that seem to be a new appendage. He stared at the box before flipping it open and looking at the engagement ring that sparkle against the lights of the tree. Ever since his mother gave it to him, he couldn't seem to just put it in a drawer and lock it away until he was ready for it. He seemed to need it with him, just in case he stumbled into the perfect moment. Oliver couldn't explain what was happening to him, or even why this ring had become a beacon of hope he wasn't even sure he could have. And yet every time her eyes meet his and she smiles that smile, his hand slips into his pocket and his fingers curl around the box. Once upon at time, Oliver's life was split between being Oliver Queen and being the man who wears the hood. Then one day a woman comes back into his life, and suddenly there is this third person he discovers within himself. This person who laughs, and tells horrible jokes. This person who is content with watching horrible television with this woman latched onto him. This person who exists because of her and he likes it. Likes who he is when he's with her and he doesn't think he's ready to let that go. And he knows for sure that he's not ready to let her go, and so that was that. That was him thinking about Bruce's proposal and finding it nothing but bullshit. Katie was where she belonged and he would keep her safe or die trying.

Katie laid in bed, her eyes wide open and her chest heaving up and down as the remnants of her latest nightmare slowly passes away. She really tried fighting to stay awake, but it was exhausting and if she planned on meeting with their latest foe than she would definitely need to have her full energy. She tossed the covers aside and sat up from her bed, glancing over to her phone to see the many missed calls from Oliver. She grabbed her phone to see that he'd called a few times, but seemed to have only left one message. Although nervous, she brought the phone to her ear to hear what he had to say.

_"Hey, I know you're upset and you have every right to be. I have been keeping something from you and given everything we agreed on with this relationship, I know it isn't fair and it's not right. It's time you knew the truth. Please just talk to me." _

Katie pulled the phone from her ear and looked down to it for a few moments. She wasn't sure he would give in that easily and the fact that he was going to be honest with her made her nervous. There were all these sayings about how the truth sets you free, but the truth also opened doors that couldn't be closed. She'd learned that the hard way with her father. She just hoped whatever Oliver's truth was, that it wouldn't end them.

She decided to just get dressed and pop over to the mansion before the day officially started and everyone's focus was once again on finding and beating Cyrus Gold. That would come later. Once dressed, Katie pulled on her jacket and glanced over to the dark hood, and mask that laid on her bed. Tonight Nura would finally get a chance to let out some pent up aggression. First she would go see Oliver.

She decided to walk since the mansion wasn't too far and it seemed like a good idea at the time, that is until she felt it. That tingling in the tips of her fingers that make her entire body go on alert. Katie stopped walking and just stood there for a moment and listened. She had to tear through the cold breeze and the rustling of the trees, but she still didn't hear anything which was strange. Her eyes turned to scan the area, and it would seem as if no one was around and yet Katie knew the truth. Someone was there and someone who could be next to invisible only meant one thing. Katie let out a deep sigh, before turning and continuing her walk toward the mansion. When she finally arrived, she spotted a familiar car parked in front and her entire mood suddenly soured. Katie glanced from the car to the house, suddenly not wanting to go inside. In the end, she decided that whatever was waiting on the other side of that door wouldn't break her and so she took a deep breath before walking up to the door. She reached forward and pressed the doorbell before waiting for an answer. She glanced around once again, still not able to shake the feeling of being watched. The door opened behind her and she turned to see Oliver standing there. She opened her mouth to speak, when her eyes caught sight of Laurel standing there inside.

"I didn't know you—" she turned back to Oliver who glanced back to Laurel, suddenly realizing what Katie must be thinking. "I should go, I guess." she made to turn and leave, when Oliver caught her arm and pulled her inside. "What are you—"

"Laurel's here to speak to Thea." Oliver announced and Laurel simply nodded as she barely met Katie's gaze. Since Oliver announced his relationship with Katie, he hadn't really spoken to Laurel and it would seemed the awkwardness was bound to happen when they all found themselves together.

"Good to see you again Katie." Laurel practically muttered before turning to Oliver and pointing toward the stairs. "Thea's in her room, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Oliver replied before watching the woman rush from the room, and hurry upstairs. Once she was gone, Oliver turned to Katie who stared at him for a moment before turning to walk into the living room. He followed her inside as she walked over to marvel at the Christmas tree."Mom outdid herself this year." he walked over to stand beside her before letting out a chuckle. "You know I remember one Christmas, I was at your house and your mom and dad had delegated us to decorate the tree." he glanced over to Katie who suddenly wore a ghost of a smile. "That damn tree had everything under the sun on it. Candy, popcorn, dental floss, I think one of my shoes made it on that year." he laughed once again as he looked to the tree. "I don't think I've ever had that much fun decorating a tree ever. We should get one for the house. A tree and decorate it." Katie glanced over to see the smile on his face that he turned toward her. "Our first Christmas tree together."

"Well first I think it's time we cleared the air." Katie replied turning to the man. "What's going on with you and Bruce?" Oliver opened his mouth to speak when Bruce's words crept inside of his head. He did know Katie and knew how much like him she was. If she felt her presence in this city was danger to the people she loved then she wouldn't hesitate to leave and he doesn't think he would be able to bear it if that happened. "Oliver?"

"Bruce is looking for Sara." Oliver suddenly said and he doesn't know why he said it, but he did and he just couldn't take it back. "He wants to make sure there wasn't any backlash from killing Al Owal. He asked if he could stick around and I told him only if he stayed away from you and he agreed." the lie came too easily to him, but the way she was looking at him, that look in her eyes that always seemed to be seeing something inside of him, made him nervous. She usually saw the things he didn't want seen and he just hopes this was one time she just didn't. She didn't say anything for a few moments before turning back to the tree.

"I should head back to see how far along your test has gotten." Katie says turning to the man.

"Right, I'll come with you." he replied looking up to the ceiling. "This place has gotten a bit more crowded." he looked back to her with a slight smile and Katie just nodded.

When they arrived to the foundry, they found Felicity and Barry crowded around one of the computers. Both glanced up as they walked in.

"Hey." Felicity said walking over and looking over to Oliver. "How are you feeling? Any more snuffaluffagus sightings?"

"My demons seem a little more darker than Snuffie." Oliver replied as he watched Katie turn off to check on the test.

"So how are you two doing?" Felicity whispered so only he could hear. "Still fighting?" Oliver turned a dark eye to her, before looking back to Katie who hadn't said much to him since leaving the mansion which only verified his fear that she knew the story he gave her was a lie. "Whatever you did, just apologize and do that thing with your eyes and everything will be better."

"I wish it was that easy." Oliver muttered turning to the woman. "And what thing with my eyes?"

"Don't play blonde with me Oliver." Felicity replied before heading over to her computer. The man just shook his head before walking over to stand beside Katie.

"This is the slowest test ever." Katie replied seeing that the sample was still being processed. Oliver glanced over to Felicity and Barry before nudging his head for the stairs for them to leave.

"Oh, Barry we could watch the countdown from Big Belly Burger." Felicity said and Barry simply stood in slight confusion before following after the woman.

"That was smooth." Katie said as she typed a few keys on the computer.

"We haven't had any real time alone since you've been back." Oliver says, his hand sliding across the small of her back. Katie just scoffed before walking off to the combat mat which definitely verified that she knew he had lied to her.

"Bruce wouldn't go looking for Sara." Katie says as she slipped off her jacket and tossed it to the side. "Sara is hiding from a very dangerous man and he wouldn't risk her getting caught by looking for her. So that story was a lie, right?"

"Twinkie—" Oliver walked over hoping to explain to her why he did it.

"It's fine." Katie said suddenly which confused the hell out of him. "I mean there's this superfast, superstrong guy trying to mass produce this serum, you're hallucinating about old girlfriends that were trapped with you on your hell island and I'm—" she turned her eyes to him and shook her head. "I have to focus on just breathing right now."

"I can explain—"

"I'm sure you can, but at the moment you and me aren't what's important. Cyrus Gold is."

"What are you talking about, the police—"

"That was a stupid plan Oliver." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "This guy can pick up a house, and our fine officers won't be a match."

"Right now it's our only option."

"No, it's not." Katie said taking a step forward. Oliver looked at her for a moment before it clicked.

"Absolutely not." Oliver replied closing the distance between them. "This guy is beyond more dangerous than anyone we've come across, and the last thing I'm going to do is let you go up against him." Katie's jaw clenched and before Oliver knew what was happening, she threw a fist right toward his face, that he quickly blocked. "Katie, what are you—"

"You can't see it." Katie replied tossing another punch that Oliver blocked. "I'm not that innocent little Twinkie who needs someone to block her from the darkness." she tossed another punch, to which Oliver grabbed her arm before twisting it and spinning her around and holding her there. In a move he didn't expect, Katie hooked her leg behind him bending it and bringing him to the floor and relinquishing his grip on her. Oliver angrily punched the mat with his fist before standing to his feet.

"You don't see it!" Oliver snapped angrily looking to her. "I know you can protect yourself. That has never gone into question."

"Then what has! What are you so afraid of?!" Katie asked as Oliver took a few steps forward, placing his hands on her shoulders and staring deep into her eyes.

"I'm afraid of losing you. I can't—" he shook his head, because he wasn't even sure how to truly explain the way he felt for the woman in front of him. "I can't lose you." Katie didn't know what to say to counter that even though she wanted to. She wanted to tell him so many things, but the main thing she wanted to tell him was that for some reason beyond her level of understanding she felt pulled to be in this fight. She wanted to fight the bad guys and help the good ones. Maybe she thought it made up for all the horrible things she was forced to do, she didn't know. Katie stared into the eyes of a man who held so much love for her and she just couldn't say any of it.

"Ok." was all she said instead. "Fine. I will stick to the medical part of my place here." Oliver looked at her for a moment before leaning into kiss her, but she backed away. "Secrets and lies Mr. Queen equals no kissing." Katie pulled from his grasp before walking back over to see how the test was coming. "Look this is almost done." she turned back to Oliver who was walking over to her. "Since no one here is in dire need of medical attention, then I should go home."

"Twinkie, you don't have to leave."

"Yeah I do. I mean you could use this time to think up how you're going to explain your secret relationship with Bruce or why you lied to me back at the mansion." Katie said as she grabbed her bag. "I'm sure you have very good reasons or at least you better."

"I do." he muttered and Katie just nodded. "I can take you home."

"You should stay here in case you get word from Lance about Gold." Katie replied and Oliver knew she was right, but it still didn't change the fact that he didn't want her leaving alone."I will call a taxi." When Katie's taxi arrived, Oliver made sure to at least walk her to the car.

"You do know at some point we're going to have to once again discuss you getting a car." Oliver said opening the door for her. Katie was about to get inside, but stopped and turned to him.

"The day you and your father sailed out was the same day my dad and I were going to get me a new car as a gift for graduating from college. So he gave me the address of this place that sold cars, belonged to an old friend of his, I guess, and I went there and waited for him. I waited for what felt like forever until I got a call from—" Katie swallowed the lump in her throat. "I got a call from the hospital, telling me that he had a stroke and when I finally got to the hospital, they told me he had already fallen into a coma." Oliver's hand slid across her cheek and Katie shook her head. "I'm not in a hurry to get a car Mr. Queen." and with that she stepped inside of the taxi and Oliver watched it drive off.

Katie sat in the back of the taxi staring out the window for a few moments before a sudden thought struck her. One that was supposed to pass over her, but once again it didn't.

"Actually," Katie spoke turning to the driver. "Take me to SCPD please."

Katie walked nervously through the doors of the bustling police station. The plan in her head consisted of hopefully overhearing any information or sightings about Cyrus Gold. It wasn't until she walked through the doors and saw just how fast everyone was moving around did she realize that stumbling on that information just might not be as easy as it seems.

"This was a bad idea." Katie muttered turning about to make a speedy exit, only to bump into someone. It wasn't until she looked up to the person's eyes did she realized she knew him.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." Detective Lance said with a curve of his lip. "I can't say I'm not happy about that. Your face around here has never been anything good. So what are you doing here?"

"I uh—" Katie scratched the back of her head, glancing around the station trying to think up a believable story. She turned back to the man with a smile. "I was in the neighborhood and I thought I would say hi." Lance looked at her with a quirked brow, about to speak when another officer walked over to him.

"Lance, Hilton is asking for you. Your suspect was sighted going into that old warehouse off fifth." the woman said. Katie turned her head slightly when she realized she knew what warehouse that was.

"You're busy." Katie said suddenly and Lance turned back to her. "I should let you get back to work." without even giving him a chance to speak, Katie was already out the door.

That familiar tingling sensation had moved over Katie's entire body the moment she slipped on the dark colored hood and slipped on the mask. She found easing from Katie to Nura so easy. Natural even. She arrived at the warehouse just in time to hear the gun fire erupting from inside.

"Shit." she muttered searching for a way inside. There was an open window just a few feet off the ground. With a running start, she thinks she could make it. Katie glanced around the still barren alley before running and barely catching the edge of the window. She pulls her self up and climbs inside, trying to make as little sound as possible. The place isn't brightly lit, but there are lights around letting her see. The smell of gun powder and blood filled the air as she took silent steps. She stopped at the sight of a large man standing above an unmoving body.

"Cyrus Gold!" Katie growled and the masked eyes turned to her. "It's time for you to go away!" the gun in Gold's hand suddenly aimed at Katie but she jumped to the ground behind a stack of boxes, dodging the shots. The man pulled the trigger until no more bullets were left before tossing the gun to the ground and walking over to catch the woman behind the boxes. When he walked over he found that she wasn't there. "Made you look." a voice spoke from behind him and when he turned Katie jumped tossing a kick to his face, that didn't seem to affect him much. He reached to grab her, but she flipped back out of his reach before reaching behind her and pulling two knives she had tucked away. She threw both knives, both hitting him in the chest, neither seeming to weaken the man either. Not at first. Gold takes a single step forward and stops before looking down to the knives in his chest that seem to be dripping a green liquid. "Have you heard of Vertigo?" a growl escapes his lips before he turns and runs. Katie is about to chase him, but a groan from the room catches her attention. She lets her eyes scan the warehouse when she spots a familiar face lying on the ground. "Lance!" she hurries over and crouches beside the man who is badly beaten and bloody."Don't worry you're going to be alright." she grabs the man's walkie talkie. "Officer down! Repeat Officer down at the warehouse off fifth and Stanton." she drops the walkie and takes the man's hand in hers. She sits there until she hears the sound of nearing sirens.

Oliver found himself on the floor staring up to the ceiling. It was another hallucination. This one seeming oddly real. He saw a man he thought he'd never have to see again. It was a reunion that seemed to turn violent very quickly and he's sure if it were real that there would be no difference in their reunion. Oliver picked himself from the floor and looked at the wreck of the basement and just shook his head. He just hoped whatever was in that poison will work it's way out of his system soon. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs and turned to see Felicity, John and Barry.

"What happened here?" Felicity asked looking at the mess that the basement had become. "Did someone break in?"

"No." Oliver replied simply when one of the computers began beeping.

"I think that's your blood analysis." Barry said looking around. "Is Dr. Robins gone?"

"Yes she is." Oliver sighed walking over to the computer. "What does is say?" Barry glanced down to the screen for a few moment with a furrowed brow.

"Huh?"

"What?" Oliver asked and Barry brought his eyes to him.

"Your blood analysis is clean." Barry replied

"Then why am I hallucinating!" Oliver demanded.

"I—I don't know." Was all Barry could say. "Whatever is wrong with you, it's not pharmaceutical, it's psychological. It's in your head."

It was John who noticed the ajar closet first and the moment he did something made him feel uneasy. He began walking over and pulled open the door, only to reveal what he feared.

"Oliver?" John spoke and Oliver looked over to the man standing by the closet. "Where exactly did Katie go?" with a furrowed brow, Oliver walked over to the closet and looked inside to see Katie's hood and mask now gone and his eyes immediately darkened. He turned and went for his hood, just as Felicity called his name.

"Oh my god! Oliver!" the man stopped and turned to see her eyes on something on the computer in front of her. She lifted sad eyes to meet hers. "It's Lance. He was hurt after a run in with Gold and taken to the hospital. He's the only survivor."

"Katie?" Oliver asked and Felicity shook her head.

"No mention of her." Felicity replied glancing down to the screen. Oliver let out a low growl, before turning and grabbing his own hood from it's case.

Katie had long changed and now sat in the halls of Starling General with her head resting in her hands. She'd been waiting here since Lance was brought in, hoping to get word on how he was doing.

"Should I be worried that I'm seeing you?" a familiar voice spoke, and Katie lifted her head to see Dr. Christian James.

"Detective Lance was brought in and I was just making sure he was alright." Katie replied standing to her feet. "Have you heard anything?"

"He should be fine. He took a good beating but physically he's going to pull through, but his whole unit was killed, it's gonna be hard to get past." Christian replied and Katie nodded. He looked at her for a moment, noticing the dark circles around her eyes. "You're still not sleeping."

"Don't do that. Don't diagnose me."

"You still have yet to talk to that counselor friend of mine. I really think he could help you figure out these nightmares you're having."

"I told you I don't need a psychiatrist. I'm fine, I get enough sleep to properly function and I'm sure as a doctor, so do you."

"Will you just think about it. I think it could really help you to talk to someone." the man replied and Katie just nodded before glancing down the hall to see Laurel stepping from her father's room.

"I'm going to go, I will talk to you later." Katie replied before walking around the man and over to the woman. The moment Laurel saw her, she couldn't hide the initial shock, that seemed to turn to annoyance. "Hey, I heard about your dad. How's he doing?"

"He's fine." Laurel replied as she dug in her purse for her phone, purposely not meeting Katie's eyes.

"Is he awake, I would love to maybe talk to him or—"

"That won't be necessary." Laurel replied angrily finally looking to Katie. "Actually how about you just leave."

"What is your problem?"

"You!" Laurel snapped angrily. "You have always been my problem Twinkie." the name always sounded so bitter when she said it, as if it left a bad taste on her tongue. "And now you've sunken your hooks into Oliver and he can't see who you really are."

"Do you know who I really am Laurel? You have never once even attempted to get to know me." Katie shook her head. "I didn't sink anything into Oliver, I fell in love with him and I guess he fell in love with me. You don't have to like it or accept that Laurel, because in the end it's just me and him. Tell your dad I hope he gets better." and with that Katie turned and walked away.

When Katie stepped outside the hospital,she tightened her jacket around her before walking along the sidewalk. She should probably call a cab, but she needed the solitude for just a few more moments. Soon that familiar instinct kicked in and she just knew someone was following her. For some reason tonight, she just didn't have the patience, so she stopped walking.

"Whoever you are, just come out, because you're horrible at following people." she announced glancing around the dark streets. She turned to look behind her, but there was nothing there when suddenly she felt someone was definitely in front of her. She slowly turned back and let out an annoyed groan as she looked up the hooded face of her boyfriend. "That's not funny." she smacked his arm with a shake of her head. "You heard about Lance?"

"That's not the only thing I heard." Oliver growled before snatching the bag from Katie's arm.

"What are you—" Oliver pulled out the hood and looked over to her. "I was taking it to get dry cleaned." Oliver stuffed the hood back into the bag before reaching over and grabbing Katie's arm and pulling her toward his bike. "This isn't going to be a pleasant conversation."

When they arrive back at the foundry, it seemed Oliver couldn't even wait to start in on the woman. He didn't even ask the others leave, which is why they stood on the other side of the basement pretending they weren't listening.

"Ok, just so I have this straight." Barry whispered glancing over to where Oliver and Katie were talking. "Dr. Robins wears a mask too?"

"Sometimes, but Oliver doesn't want her to." Felicity replied glancing over as well. "He doesn't want her to get hurt."

"I'm not sure that's what he's afraid of." John muttered with a shake of his head.

Oliver had finally stopped lecturing Katie about how dangerous it was for her to go out there alone and now he just stood there looking at her waiting for her to respond.

"Say something." Oliver finally said and Katie sighed.

"You, John and the SCPD have all gone against this man and I'm the only one whose come back without a scratch." Katie replies with a shake of her head. "Do you know why? Because sure he's bigger and he's stronger, but everything can be weakened. There is no excuse for failure."

"Is that you talking, or Ra's?" Oliver asked and Katie scoffed about to leave, but he caught her arm. "I told you I was afraid of losing you, that didn't just mean death." Katie looked at him for a moment before turning away.

"I injected him with Vertigo that I stole from your case over there. I'm not sure how it will effect him, but it will." Katie said turning to Oliver. "When it does, someone should be there."

"And you think that someone should be you?"

"I think that someone should be anyone who can finally take this bastard down." she turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back to him. "Your analysis should be done now. What did it say?"

"Apparently it's not the poison. Maybe I'm going crazy." Oliver replied and Katie turned back to him. "Why else would I be hallucinating?"

"You're not crazy, because if you're crazy then so am I." Katie said and Oliver looked at her for a moment before realizing what she was saying.

"How long?" Oliver asked taking a step closer to the woman.

"Since coming back home. I read up on hallucinations though. The book says that if you can figure out what they're trying to tell you then maybe they will go away."

"Is it working for you?" Katie shook her head before turning back to him.

"Shado is dead, right?" Oliver just nodded. "It's guilt. Survivor's guilt maybe."

"And yours?"

"Lian Yu." Katie said and she saw Oliver stiffen at the name. "He worked for Waller and when I asked what I should call him, he said Lian Yu. Never made any sense until recently." Katie shook her head at the memory of the man. "I guess his job was to scare the shit out of me, while training me. I don't feel guilt when I see him, it's just plain fear. Something I haven't been able to shake."

"What is he telling you?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away, wondering if Lian’s accusations of her being a monster is something she wants to divulge.

"I think it's only meant for me to hear." Katie replied turning back to him. "Find out what yours are trying to say and maybe they'll go away."

"Guys, we got something here." Felicity announced and Oliver glanced over to her.

"You should go." Katie said and he turned back to her. "Just the doctor, remember?"

"I wish that's all you were." he replied grabbing her hand and pulling her with him toward the others.

"I scanned the key Lance gave you, and traced its serial code back to the manufacturer. This particular key fits a locked gate somewhere on Crescent Circle in the Glades." Felicity said before glancing over to Oliver who seemed to nod before turning and walking toward his quiver.

"Where are you going?" Katie asked. "I thought it was a unanimous decision that since you're still seeing things that aren't there, that having you go against superfreak is a bad idea."

"I have to stop this."

"I agree, it needs to be stopped, but the last time you went up against this guy I came here and found you unconscious, so tell me again why I should be alright with this?" Oliver walked over to stand in front of her, making sure there was little distance between them so she could see the seriousness in his eyes.

"Because I'm coming back."

"Did your crystal ball tell you that Mr. Queen?" she asked and Oliver's hand grabbed her waist and pulled her against his chest.

"I have a reason to come back doctor, so I'm coming back."

"I should come with you. I can help."

"I still need to figure out how to be alright with you wearing that hood and not being afraid for you when you're out there. I need everything inside of me to be focused on Cyrus Gold right now." Katie bit her bottom lip before grabbing the front of Oliver's hood and looking into his eyes.

"You better come back because if you don't, if you die, I will hate you." Katie said and Oliver seeing this as an opportunity he'd been waiting for, dipped his head so his lips could meet hers. It was short and sweet, but he wouldn't trade the moment for anything in the world. Katie stood there and watched as he turned and walked out the door.

She was pacing again after that and this time no one in the room tried to stop her. Felicity sat behind her computer guiding Oliver to Gold's location. John and Barry stood behind her. Katie didn't notice the door to the basement opening, which is why she didn't expect a hand to touch her shoulder. Her initial reaction was to attack, but she stopped herself when she saw who it was.

"You know sneaking up on me is a bad idea Bruce." Katie said before turning and continuing her pace.

"You're pacing, so something must be wrong." he looked over to the others who seemed distracted with what was on the computer screen. "Where's my best bud Oliver?"

"At the moment he's taking on a superjuiced villain who has already beat him once."

"Sounds like a Tuesday in Gotham." Bruce muttered looking over to the others and spotting the new face. "Whose the kid?" Katie followed his eyes to Barry and chuckled. "What?"

"Barry Allen, and you know I've noticed that in your absence, he and Smoaks have been really chummy." Bruce quirked a brow before walking over to see what had everyone so entranced.

"What are we looking at?" Bruce asked and all their surprised eyes went to him.

"Bruce!" Felicity said standing to her feet. "You're here."

"I am." Bruce said meeting the wide eyes of Mr. Allen.

"You're Bruce Wayne." Barry said still trying to believe that he was really looking at the billionaire. He turned to Felicity. "He's Bruce Wayne."

"Barry, breathe." Felicity said still smiling over to Bruce who couldn't help but to return it. The pair did seem to gravitate closer to each other, the eyes on them seeming to disappear."When did you get back?"

"Yesterday." Bruce replied and he noticed the smile leave the woman's face. "I would've called but—"

"Bruce it's good to see you and all, but at the moment we're in the middle of something." John interrupted turning back to Felicity.

"Right." The woman replied coming back to the reality of the moment. She turned and dropped back into her seat.

The wait was torturous. Katie had finally stopped pacing and dropped into a seat as the thoughts of Oliver not returning began creeping inside her head.

"Gold is dead and Oliver is alright!" Felicity called and Katie felt herself breathe again. "Oliver, wait what?" the woman listened to him for a few moments longer. "Alright."

"What's wrong?" Katie asked walking over to them.

"Roy was somehow captured by Gold, and injected with the serum." Felicity says with a slight shake of her head. "Oliver says he was dead, but he was able to revive him. He's taking him back to the mansion."

"I should head over there to check him out." Katie says turning and heading for the door.

"No!" Felicity called and Katie stopped. "He says he doesn't want you to leave. Roy is stable. He's going to come back here after he drops off Roy." Katie stood there for a moment in confusion before letting out a deep sigh.

"I need a drink." Katie muttered with a shake of her head before deciding to head up to the empty club and raid the booze.

Oliver arrived through the club to see Katie standing behind the bar with a bottle of something in her hand.

"Twinkie or Drunk Twinkie, that is the question." Oliver said walking over to her and taking the bottle from her hand.

"I'm not drunk yet." she replied reaching for the bottle but he only pulled it further away.

"Roy—"

"Is fine. I'm positive. Right now I worried about you."

"Well I'm worried about me too." Katie replied when the sound of the door to the basement pushed open and they both turned to see Bruce. "But right now I think it's time we finally got whatever the hell this is in the open."

"What's going on?" Bruce asked walking over. "Wait, are you two fighting?" And that was the straw that broke the camel's back, because Oliver took a step to finally hit the man, but Katie held up a hand to stop him.

"Well I recently found out that you and my boyfriend here have been having secretive conversations and I just want to know what about." Bruce glanced over to Oliver who seemed hesitant to meet his gaze. Katie looked between the two men and sighed. "It's either about me or you two are having an affair." neither seemed to even smirk at the joke. "I'm going to go with the first choice then. That's the only thing that could warrant you two working together. Just tell me."

"Oliver, she deserves to know." Bruce said, and the darkened look Oliver sent made him turn away. "It's time."

"Twinkie, look before I tell you this I want you to know that we will handle this. I promise."

"Oliver just say it."

"A couple of weeks ago, Bruce found one of Ra' s Al Ghul's assassins hiding around the house." Oliver said and Katie looked to him in confusion.

"They think I'm hiding Sara?"

"They weren't looking for Sara, Robins." Bruce replied and she turned to him and it clicked. "He hasn't just given up like we hoped." Katie closed her eyes and just dropped her head when suddenly a familiar dry chuckle met her ears. When she opened her eyes, she spotted her own ghost leaning against the wall staring back at her.

_"You knew it was only a matter of time before the demon came looking for his monster."_


	13. WAITING FOR THE REACTION

**CHAPTER 13**

**WAITING FOR THE REACTION**

_"Some people have a difficult time facing truth and reality. _

_They prefer to live in a make-believe world,_

_pretending that certain things aren't happening."  
_

_-Joyce Meyer_

* * *

Everything in the world has a cause and effect. An action followed by a reaction. Oliver had told Katie that her biggest fear was closer to reality than she realized and now three weeks later he finds her in the kitchen, cooking breakfast and even swaying her hips to a song that's playing from the radio. It had been like this everyday since he's told her and he's not sure exactly what it means. This was definitely not the reaction he was expecting. When he walked in closer, she turned to him with a smile.

"Hey, good morning." she said walking over and placing a quick peck to his lips before going back over to the stove. "I'm making blueberry pancakes, and they actually look kind of edible this morning." For a few moments, Oliver thought he was dreaming.

"Twinkie are you alright?" he asked walking over to her and she turned to him with a furrowed brow in confusion.

"I'm great." she replied with a wide smile before looking back down to flip her pancakes. "You want to set the table. These should be ready in just a few." he stood there for a moments trying to find some indication that she really wasn't alright, but he couldn't. He guessed someone who is as good at hiding their feeling as Katie is, wouldn't have much problems. Oliver just shook his head before walking over toward the table, just as the doorbell.

"I got it." Oliver replied before heading to the door. He wasn't sure who it could be since he distinctly remembers telling all their friends to only call them for emergencies. He wanted to give Katie enough time to process all of this, and at the moment it seems that's the last thing she's doing. Oliver pulled open the door and glared at the man standing in front of him whose eyes seemed to be on his cell phone. After a few moments the man lifted his eyes and just groaned under his breath.

"Jeremy."

"Oliver." Jeremy replied before trying to walk past the man, but before he could slip into the house, Oliver threw up an arm to stop him. "What are you doing?"

"She's not seeing anyone today." Oliver said simply and the glare Jeremy sent him deepened. "Come back in a couple of days.

"A couple days, what—" Jeremy shook his head and began trying to see inside. "Did you do something to her you son of a bitch. I knew you Queens were crazy, and I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen." Soon he spotted Katie walking toward the door.

"Why are you here? I thought we had an agreement that your visitation to my home stay limited." Katie says standing beside Oliver.

"Well you're not answering your phone and I wanted to make sure this ape man didn't kill you and bury you in the backyard." Jeremy replied ignoring the looks from Oliver. "Plus a call came in yesterday about a possible merger I think we should consider."

"Merger with who?"

"Luthorcorp, they're centered in Metropolis and—"

"I know what Luthorcorp is all about and the answer is no." Katie replied simply.

"Are you not even going to hear what I have to say?" Jeremy asked. "This could be big for us, and I think they're serious about it too. The CEO himself flew in and he's sort of in the car right now." Katie's eyes widened as she stepped back into the house, moving to stand behind Oliver. "What?"

"Lex Luthor is waiting in your car right now?" Katie asked glaring over to her cousin and nodded. "And you thought bringing him here, at this time of day to my home was the smart move?"

"He kind of insisted on coming with me. Plus he says you guys are old friends or something I thought you would jump at this opportunity."

"Well you thought wrong." Katie replied before turning to Oliver. "You can close the door now." Oliver simply nodded before turning a smirk to Jeremy as he closed the door in the man's face. He turned and walked back into the kitchen where he found Katie placing a stack of deformed pancakes on the table.

"You know Lex Luthor?" Oliver asks and Katie sighs as she takes a seat at the table.

"If I just say yes, can we just leave it there?" she asks looking over to him. He walks over and takes the seat across from her and just looks at her for a moment. "Fine, but you're going to get all grr and annoying."

"I only get grrr as you call it when the time calls for it, so just come out with it."

"Lex Luthor is my ex boyfriend." Katie said and she could see Oliver's jaw clench and the vein in his forehead make an appearance. "We dated while I was in medical school. Then I graduated and we broke up and so I came home." Oliver didn't say anything and she could tell he was trying to remain calm.

"What happened? Why did you break up?"

"Does it matter?" she replied grabbing a couple pancakes and placing them on her plate. "It's over and now you have the job of containing my crazy now. So what are your plans for today?"

"I thought I would stay with you." Oliver replied still studying the woman who seemed to be acting as if nothing was wrong. "I thought you would want to talk?"

"About what?" Katie asked looking back over to him with a look of confusion and Oliver was surprised at how genuine it seemed.

"The League, Ra's. I assumed those would be topics you would want to talk about."

"Why would you think that?" Katie asked dropping her fork to her plate before standing and taking it to the sink. "Oliver, look I get you want to help, but the biggest thing you could do for me right now is just stay out of it."

"In what world can you see that ever happening?" Oliver asked standing to his feet and walking over to stand behind her. "If Ra's Al Ghul comes for you then he will have to come through me." Katie threw the plate down into the sink causing it to shatter before she turned to Oliver.

"That's just it!" she snapped. "I don't want him to go threw you or Bruce or anyone else. Ra's Al Ghul, the League, it's my fight and I want you to stay out of it." She walked around him, hoping to end the conversation there, but Oliver grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Well I took the job of containing your crazy, so I don't think staying out of it is an option for me." Oliver replied and Katie shook her head. "You know I get it. You were alone for such a long time, you against the world, but right now, this moment you're not alone Twinkie." Katie closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Twinkie—"

"Alone would be easy." she finally said meeting his eyes once. "I love you Oliver Queen, but you are my weakness, and Ra's will not hesitate to use you against me."

"I won't let that happen."

"Despite what you want to happen Oliver, you can't control everything." Katie replied and Oliver’s grasp around her waist tightened, because he was starting to see what she was hiding behind her eyes. "You can't be hurt because of me. Maybe—"

"No." Oliver said before words he didn't want spoken came from her lips. He chose to stop them by slamming his lips against hers in a kiss filled with a silent promise. One he plans on keeping. When they pulled apart, there was barely any distance between them, their breaths ragged as they looked to each other. Oliver stared into her brown eyes and it almost happened. He felt the weight of a box in his pocket seem heavier, and a question that had been dancing in his head almost slipped out of his lips.

The moment was interrupted by Oliver's ringing cell phone that cut through the room. For a few moments, it was as if he didn't even hear it.

"You gonna get that?"

"What?" he asked and Katie smiled.

"You're ringing Liver." she replied and a frown came to the man's face as he slipped his hand into his pocket to retrieve his phone with one hand, while keeping the other firmly on Katie's waist. He rolls his eyes at the number before slipping it back into his pocket. "It must be the devil woman. Why are we avoiding her calls?"

"Because since mom has returned to the company, my interactions with Isabel have been extremely limited. Like when I'm with my girlfriend and she calls, I can ignore her and not worry about the company because mom will handle it." Oliver leaned into capture her lips once again. "And right now—" his lips trailed to the nape of her neck. "This is where I think I should be." Katie’s arms wrapped around Oliver's neck and his lips seems to move lower, when suddenly his phone rang again. He let out an annoyed groan pulling back and grabbing his cell phone once again to see that it was her. "I could take the battery out."

"Heroes have to be reachable at all times." Katie said and Oliver looked over to her with a smile. "Part of the job."

"I could ignore it."

"But then she'll just call back." Katie replied before just taking the phone from his hand. "Allow me." Katie brought the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

_"Wait, who is this?"_

"Who is this? You called me remember?"

"_No, I called Oliver Queen. Look I don't know who you are or what bar he picked you up from and I really don't care, put Oliver on the phone please." _

Katie looked up to Oliver with wide eyes at the woman's words.

"What did she say?" he whispered and Katie placed a hand on the mouth piece of the phone.

"Apparently she thinks you picked me up at some bar. Does that happen often?" Katie asked and Oliver shook his head before reaching for the phone, but Katie turned away and began speaking again. "Ms. Rochev, Oliver is unable to come to the phone at the moment, but if you have a message for him I will definitely pass it along and have him call you back."

_"Look you—"_ the woman paused for a moment and Katie turned to Oliver with a look of confusion. _"Ms. Robins, right?"_ the woman's tone had suddenly changed and Katie had to roll her eyes.

"Yes it is."

_"Please excuse my behavior, it's just there are some things happening that I think Oliver needs to be aware of."_ Isabel replied and Katie turned to Oliver once again. "_If you could have him call me as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated. It's very important." _

"Will do." Katie replied before ending the call.

"What did she say?" Oliver asked.

"Something is happening with QC that she thinks you should know about. She didn't get into details, but she seemed freaked. Maybe you should just head over."

"No, my mother is back, if something is happening at the company, I'm sure she's handling it."

"You should at least call and see what's going on instead of trying to get laid." Katie replied pushing the man back. "I'm going to take a shower!" and with that she turned and headed upstairs. The moment Katie stepped inside her room, she closed the door and walked over to take a seat on her bed.

_"Arrow boy is determined, that much I'll give him." said the voice of the man who wasn't really there. _She lifted her eyes to see him standing in the corner of the room._ "It's gonna break his little heart when he finds out what you're planning." _

Katie ignored the voice as she stands to her feet and heads to the bathroom for her shower. The hot water fell on the top of her head and for a few moments Katie just let herself get lost. Soon she was pulled back in when she felt strong hands wrap around from behind her.

"What's happening at QC?" Katie asked letting herself be pulled back to Oliver's chest and letting her head fall back against his shoulder.

"My mom didn't say much, but she did tell me that I should head in."

"Then you go." Katie replied turning to face him. "I will—"

"Come with me." Oliver finished and Katie sighed. "If you are being watched, then we don't know what the next move will be. I think it's better if you stick with someone at all times."

"Like a baby sitter?"

"Like a safety net." Oliver countered pulling her closer to him. "At least until we can figure this out." Katie chuckled with a shake of her head before turning and sliding her hands through her hair.

"There is no figuring out Ra's Al Ghul. There's killing him and since the demon does not die, then there is no stopping him."

"With that logic you're saying that at some point he will get you." Oliver replied dropping his lips to her bare shoulder. "And that doesn't happen with me around."

"You're supposed to be headed to the office." Katie said as Oliver's lips continued their journey along her collar causing her eyes to flutter closed and a moan to escape her lips. His hand soon began their own mission and Katie was sure this shower would last longer than she planned.

When Katie and Oliver finally emerged from the bathroom, they dressed quickly and headed out to OC. It's when Katie and Oliver step onto the elevator and head up to his office does Oliver noticed the look in Katie's eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" he asks and Katie looks over to him.

"I'm just now realizing that this is the first time I may see Ms. Rochev since she fed that story about us to that paper." Katie replied turning back to the doors of the elevator.

"You're not gonna hit her." Oliver says now understanding the look in her eyes. "You're going to go to my office and wait for me and then we're going to leave." Suddenly the doors slid open and Katie stepped out without a reply. "Twinkie." he went to follow her, making sure to grab her hand to keep her close in case Isabel surprised them.

"Oh thank godness!" Felicity called the moment he laid eyes on Oliver and Katie. She jumped to her feet and followed them into his office. "This place has been a mad house all morning."

"Felicity what exactly is going on?" Oliver asked turning to the woman. "My mom didn't say much on the phone."

"Well I'm not sure if anyone wants to say anything on the phones." Felicity replied glancing out of Oliver's office to see Moira's high heeled feet rushing inside.

"Oliver, great you're here." Moira said smiling over to Katie. "I'm not sure you should've brought Katie here." Moira turned to the confused look in her son's eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"There's just a lot happening today. Lots of talk, and everyone is just a bit confused and paranoid." Moira said with a sigh before turning to Katie with a slight smile. "And to everyone on the outside looking in you're the competition and having two QC competing CEOs in house is throwing this place into mayhem."

"I thought people were looking at me weird when I walked in." Katie replied looking over to Oliver.

"Wait, two competing CEOs? Who else is here?" Oliver asked and his mother turn to him with a shake of her head.

"Alexander Luthor." the woman replied and Katie just dropped her head when Oliver's eyes went to her. "What?"

"I have a feeling him being here has less to do with QC." Oliver replied before turning to his mother. "Where is he?"

"Liver, don't." Katie said turning her eyes back to the man.

"No, he's persistent. He has something to say, we might as well let him say it." Oliver said turning back to his mother. "Lead the way mom."

Oliver kept in pace with his mother as they walked down the hall toward the boardroom. He kept his eyes forward, his hand clenching open and closed at his side. When they reached the door, Moira stopped and placed herself between Oliver and the door a move she could see annoyed him.

"Oliver, I'm not completely sure what's going on, but you have that look in your eyes and there is a board on the other side of that door that I really don't think need to see an altercation between you and Lex Luthor."

"I completely agree." Oliver replied before moving around his mother to open the door. He walked in, his eyes going to where Lex sat chatting with Isabel. He pulled a smile to his face before looking around the table to the board. "Would you all mind giving me and Mr. Luthor a moment alone." everyone looked a bit confused. "I promise this won't take long." Everyone unsure what else to do stood to their feet and began filing out of the room. Isabel was the last to head for the door, stopping in front of Oliver before actually leaving.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I just want to talk to him." Oliver replied looking over to Lex who wore a very cocky smile. "Don't worry—" he dropped his eyes back to Isabel. "We're old friends." she looked hesitant to leave, but walked around as well leaving the two men alone, closing the door behind her. Once the two men were alone, they're eyes seemed stuck on one another for a few brief moments of silence.

"Oliver Queen." Lex finally spoke, standing from his seat and buttoning his blazer. "It has been a very long time."

"Not long enough Lex." Oliver replied walking over to the man, making sure to stand up tall and to his full height. "Why are you here?"

"It's been a while since I stopped through Starling." Lex replied walking over to stare out the grand window that overlooked the city. "I mean Metropolis is a fine city, but there's something about Starling." he sucked in an exaggerated breath of amazement. "It sparkles like no other city."

"Well, you came, you saw, it sparkled." Oliver said and Lex lets out a slight chuckle. "Now you leave."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Lex said turning back to Oliver. "Starling holds something more than a pleasing view." Oliver's hands once again clench at his side, and this time Lex notices. "Your girlfriend—"

"Does not want to talk to you or see you for that matter. So whatever this is, you can quit while you're ahead and just go back home." Oliver stated and Lex lets out a sigh.

"I want to, but I need something from her."

"What is that?"

"Closure." Lex stated with a slight shake of his head. "I can assume from your stance and that look in your eyes like you want to pummel me means you are aware of me and Katie's past relationship." Oliver doesn't say anything, but nods. "It was weird. I thought everything was great, I mean I even bought a ring." the man let out another chuckle as he turned back to look out the window. "She's that kind of woman, you know. The kind of woman that you look into her eyes and see the whole nine with the picket fence, and the kids and I don't even like kids. But when I looked at her—" Lex stops himself and just clears his throat before turning back to Oliver. "I asked and she said no and before I could ask why, she was on a plane back to Starling. I just want to talk to her." Oliver's hand slid into his own pocket as his hand curled around the box he found himself now carrying with him where ever he went.

"Why now? After all this time?"

"I thought I was over it, but then I saw her in Metropolis and realized I wasn't." Lex replied with a slight shrug. "She's the one that got away, and I just want to know what I did." Oliver lets out an exhausted breath as he runs his hand across his face.

"Look I will talk to her, but right now she's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want to talk to you." Oliver says glancing around the room. "And as for you showing up here—"

"It was a last minute thing. After she wouldn't see me this morning I thought I could come at her at a different angle. And I knew showing up in enemy territory would get you called in." Lex replied glancing down to his watch. "So I'm going to be staying at the Plaza until tomorrow night. So if you are able to convince her to talk to me, that's where I'll be." Lex walked over to Oliver and held out his hand. "Thanks for hearing me out." Oliver glanced at the man's hand for a moment, before taking it and giving a firm shake. "And it was nice seeing you again Oliver." with that, the man walked across the boardroom and out the door. Oliver stood there for a few moments in the empty room, a hand still around the small box in his pocket. He had to shake away the sudden doubt and hesitation about the question he wanted to ask, before turning and leaving the boardroom as well.

Oliver walked down the hall back to his office fully prepared to grab Katie and head back out. Isabel Rochev put a hitch in that plan. Oliver's eyes widened as he walked up to see Felicity physically holding Katie back from Isabel who seemed to be standing unaffected with crossed arms over her chest. Oliver quickly rushed inside, placing himself between both women.

"What the hell is happening in here?!" Oliver demanded looking between both Katie and Isabel, but his glare stopped on Isabel who he was sure instigated the situation.

"Ms. Robins just doesn't know how to control her emotions." Isabel replied and Katie once again tried to move past Felicity to get to her, but the blonde wasn't letting up. "It was a stupid article that she wasn't smart enough to to see was actually a good idea. A merger—"

"That's enough." Oliver interrupted. "You need to leave my office."

"Fine, but I think you may want to start choosing who you bring here more carefully." Isabel says turning back to Katie. "She is the competition, even if you are sleeping with her." At that, Katie was actually able to slip past Felicity, but Oliver caught her and pulled her back as Isabel turns and leaves the office.

"Alright, calm down." Oliver says and Katie's darkened eyes look to him.

"Oliver she was kind of a bitch, but I didn't think Katie needed to add assault to her wrap sheet." Felicity says nudging Katie's arm with her elbow. "She was just baiting you. Don't let it get to you." Katie simply nods as she watches the blonde leave the office and head over to her desk.

"Hey, look at me." Oliver says and Katie turns her eyes to him and soon lets out breath through her nose as she feels herself calm down. "Better?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Katie replied running her fingers through her hair. "I've dealt with more annoying people than the devil woman and I shouldn't have went off like that."

"Well you've had a rough week." Oliver says before taking Katie's hand and pulling her with him toward his desk, where he sits and pulls her to his lap. His arm wraps around her middle and pulls her back against his chest, as his hand lazily slides underneath her shirt to rest against the bare skin of her stomach.

"Glass walls Liver." Katie playfully scolded. "So how did your conversation go with Lexie?" she asked, but soon regretted the use of the nickname.

"Lexie?" Oliver said and Katie let out a sigh. "And here I was thinking that I was the only one who had the pleasure of your annoying nicknames."

"Shut up." Katie replied lightly swatting his arm. "What did he say?"

"He said he wanted to talk to you, that he wanted closure." Oliver said.

"And then you beat him up?"

"No, I didn't beat him up. He seemed, I don't know sad kind of. He said he asked you to marry him and you turned him down without giving him a reason why." Oliver said and Katie practically jumped from his lap and turned to him with wide eyes.

"That bald bastard said that?" she asked and Oliver slowly nodded. "Is he still here? He wants closure, I"ll give it to him." she turned and stormed for Oliver's door.

"Twinkie, wait, he's not here." Oliver said and Katie stopped and turned back to him. "He went back to the Plaza. How about you tell me what happened." Katie opened her mouth to speak, when the door pushed open behind her.

"Sorry to interrupt whatever is happening here. But I have a call on line one." Felicity said glancing from Oliver to Katie. "And it's for you?"

"Who is it?" Katie asked.

"It's Rebecca. She says she's been trying to call you, but doesn't get an answer."

"Did you tell her I was here?" Katie asked and Felicity just nodded. "Ok, I'll take it." Katie walked back over to Oliver sliding back into his lap before looking down at the blinking light on the phone. After a moment, she finally picked up the phone and brought it to her ear. "Becks, hey."

_"Don't Becks hey me! Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you all week. First I hear about Mills being mugged while you guys were in Metropolis and then you go MIA. Did something else happen?"_

"Nope. That's all that happened."

_"Then why aren't you answering any of my calls. Hell, why aren't you working your scheduled shift." _

"Something came up that I couldn't get out of. Look I can't really talk now, but I was planning on coming into the hospital in about an hour to talk to you."

_"Is everything alright?"_

"It's—" Katie dropped her head and sighed. "I'll see you soon." and then she hung up the phone.

"Ok." Oliver spoke once again pulling her closer to him. "What's going on?"

"I didn't plan on telling you this now, but I guess I have no choice." Katie replies opening her eyes and turning in Oliver's lap so she could see his eyes. "I'm quitting the hospital."

"What? Why?"

"Why? Oliver my co-worker was kidnapped and beaten because of me. Stuff like that doesn't happen to normal people and if I stay then I'm sure my craziness will find innocent people again. Plus how could I walk in there and look Ethan in the eyes after what happened?"

"I'm sure he doesn't blame you for what happened. Twinkie, you love this job."

"I do, but I love it enough to let it go when I feel I'm the biggest threat to it." Katie replied dropping her head back against his shoulder. "Plus with Ra's now back in orbit, I think I need a little more focus." Oliver placed a kiss to the side of her forehead ignoring that twinge inside of him. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Katie lifted her eyes to Oliver. "I turned Lex down because he was always hiding something from me. Then there was the fact that my dad almost crapped a cow when he found out that we were dating. I thought he was just being a dad, but I think he may have known some things about Lex that I didn't." Katie let out another deep sigh. "But then Lex asked me to marry him and it just didn't seem right."

"What?"

"I don't know, him maybe. There was always a big question mark hanging over his head and then there was the other thing."

"What other thing?"

"I was sort of still in love with this guy I went to school with." Katie said lifting her head and turning to face him. "He sort of ruined all my relationships because every guy I dated just never seemed to measure up to him." Oliver smile as he slid a hand through the back of her hair and pulled her lips toward his. "Glass walls Mr. Queen."

"I don't care Dr. Robins." he muttered before finally meeting her lips with his and soon the last thing either of them were thinking about were the glass walls they were surrounded by. At some point Katie had spun around on Oliver's lap, now straddling him.

"Uh, guys!" Felicity's voice broke through the room and both Oliver and Katie pulled apart quickly staring at each other before turning to the blonde who pointed outside of the office to the people who had stopped and were staring at them as well. "Glass walls remember!"

"We should probably go." Oliver said turning to Katie who only nodded in agreement before sliding off of his lap and standing to her feet.

"Good idea." Katie replied trying to avoid the gazes that were on them. Oliver grabbed her hand and the pair rushed from his office onto the elevator.

It wasn't until Katie was standing outside of Glades Memorial did the doubt and anxiety start to kick in. Oliver's hand slid around her back and pulled her to his side.

"You don't have to do this." he spoke to her knowing the emotions that had to be playing inside her head.

"Yeah, I do." Katie replied looking over to him. "This was a dream. One I really wanted, but it's impossible." she looked back over to the building. "You can't be kidnapped by a government agency and then turned over to a cult leader and then return home to try to have a normal life."

"But Ethan's kidnapping had nothing to do with either of those."

"I'm not so sure." Katie muttered before taking a step toward the building, but Oliver caught her arm.

What is it?" he asked and Katie let out a sigh before turning to him.

"On the roof when I came face to face with the supposed mastermind, she told me that the kidnapping was never about money. It was something else. She didn't get a chance to tell me before she was stabbed through the stomach by one of Ra's assassins."

"What? You didn't tell me that."

"Well now we're even." Katie said before pulling away and finally walking inside the hustle and bustle of the hospital. Everyone and everything was moving so quickly around her that it was only natural that she felt she should just jump in and help, but she didn't. She let her eyes scan over the ER until she spotted Rebecca across the unit speaking with a patient. She began to walk over when a familiar voice spoke out to her.

"And the infamous Kit Kat returns." Katie stopped walking and looked over to the nursing station where she saw the familiar face of Ethan Mills. She didn't expect he would be back so soon, but she should've known nothing would keep this man from getting back to work. She glanced over to Oliver who simply nodded before hanging back as she walked over to the doctor. "You know after everything that happened, I at least expected a call from my girl." Katie didn't say anything as she studied his face. After a week it wasn't bad, but it was still obvious that something had happened from the slightly swollen bruises.

"I'm sorry." she said suddenly meeting his eyes.

"For what?" Ethan asked with sincere confusion. "This wasn't your fault. That chick in the restaurant saw you eating with me and thought it was a chance for a pay day."

"Yeah, because you were eating with me. I'm toxic and I didn't see it before, but I do now and I'm going to do something about it." Katie glanced over to see Rebecca finally walking away from the patient. Ethan followed her eyes and turned back to Katie.

"What are you about to do?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago." Katie replied glancing back to him. "I'm sorry." and with that she began walking away.

"Katie, wait!" Ethan called after her as he practically ran to catch up to her. He glanced over to Oliver who was moving just as quickly to follow. "You're not gonna let her do this are you?"

"It's not really my choice." Olive muttered as he finally caught up to Katie who had already found Rebecca.

"Becks, don't listen to anything she is about to say." Ethan said walking up to the women.

"Too late." Rebecca replied still looking at Katie. "So that's it. You're just leaving." she glanced over to Ethan. "This has to do with Metropolis doesn't it?"

"This has to do with me." Katie replied. "I thought I could at least pretend like this could be my entire life. But reality crept back in and showed me that it was impossible. I'm sorry Rebecca. I appreciate everything you've done for me." she let her eyes scan over the halls. "I really did love this place."

"Just not enough to stay?" Rebecca asked and Katie looking back to her with a slight smile.

"I love it more, which is why I'm leaving now." Katie replied and Rebecca just silently nodded.

"This is bullshit and you all know it." Ethan snapped angrily before turning and storming away.

"I have a patient." muttered Rebecca who turned to leave as well.

Katie stood there, in that spot, surrounded by many people she thought were her purpose. Maybe her gift to them is placing as much distance between her and them as possible.

"Twinkie, you don't have to do this." Oliver said deciding to interject once again. "You don't have to change your entire life because of fear."

"This isn't fear." Katie muttered finally meeting his eyes. "This is me coming to grips with reality." and with that she walked around him and headed out the door. He followed behind her before finally asking her the question he'd been hesitant to even think about.

"And what does reality mean for us?" Oliver asked and Katie stopped walking, but she didn't turn. "I knew once you found out the truth it would hit you hard, but you're cutting ties. People only do that when they plan on leaving." she still didn't turn to face him, so he walked over to stand in front of her, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"The man in the skull mask." Katie finally said and Oliver looked confused. "That's—that's what you should be focusing on. You need to find him before he starts injecting that serum into this city. This guy has a poison and you're just ignoring it."

"I'm not ignoring anything!" Oliver said angrily taking a step forward. "I just know this is affecting you and I know you probably won't show it, and the moment I turn my back—"

"I wouldn't do it like that." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "If you're worried about anything, you don't have to be worried about that. Let's go." they turned and headed for the car when suddenly Oliver's phone rang and he quickly answered. Katie turned to him and watched the slight frown set over his features. "That's fine, do whatever you have to do." when he ended the call and looked over to Katie. "There was some sort of freak storm in Central City, and Barry was struck by lightning. He's in a coma."

"Oh my god." Katie gasped.

"Felicity says she's going to head up there to see how he's doing." Oliver replied with a slight shake of his head before looking back to Katie. "You're right though, we need to start looking for this guy. I'm going to call Diggle to have him meet us at the foundry." Katie nodded as she took Oliver's hand.

At the foundry, Katie found herself hanging back as Oliver and John do the investigative part of the job. She didn't see herself as that good of an investigator, which is probably why she has been getting such surprising news lately. She did find her eyes going to the door ever so often with the stray thought that maybe she should just walk out now and never look back. It was her go to move when life seemed to be crushing her.

"I think our best bet here is to start talking up the movers and shakers down in Crescent Circle." John said pulling Katie from her thoughts. She looked over to see Oliver nod in agreement.

"I guess at the moment, it's our only option." he replied before glancing over to Katie. "I'll go tonight, so you can—"

"Stay here with babysitter John Diggle. At some point we should probably discuss the whole me actually going out there with you." Katie said with a shake of her head before walking over to the combat mat. Oliver waited until she was out of listening distance, before dropping his head next to John's.

"Watch her. She doesn't leave here until I get back." Oliver whispered.

"And if she does, what am I supposed to do then?" John asked.

"Well we should be fully stocked with zip ties." Oliver replied before giving the man a slight nudge to the arm.

That night while Oliver began his search for the man in the skull mask, John found himself having to play Felicity Smoak which looked slightly difficult for the man.

"You doing alright over here?" Katie asked walking over to stand beside the man.

"You know Felicity made this dummy proof for if she ever had to go out of town, and I'm still lost." John said looking over the monitor as he found himself pressing random buttons.

"Didn't she leave directions or something around here?" Katie asked glancing around, when she spotted a packet on one of shelves, right next to where Oliver had stored his clothes before leaving. "There it is." Katie walked over to the shelf to grab the packet when she saw something sticking from Oliver's pocket. She knew she's not supposed to go through his things, but it's right there and she's too curious and so she reaches into the pocket and grabs what just so happens to be a small box. Her heart rams in her chest as she stares blankly at the box and it seems only one word seems to slip from her mouth. "Shit."

"What's wro—" John turned and his eyes went wide at the sight of the box in Katie's hand. "Shit." she glanced over to him to see he doesn't seem as surprised as she is. "He just had to carry it around with him."

"You knew about this and you didn't talk him out of it?" Katie asked angrily walking over to the man.

"I did!" John said and then realized how bad that sounded. "I mean I didn't, well I did, but—" he shook his head and looked back to Katie. "Wait, what?"

"We've only been dating for a few months, this—" she looked down to the ring. "It's too soon for this. He shouldn't be thinking about this."

"I think he knows that which is why he hasn't asked you yet." John replied. "Look just talk to him and finally get this out in the open."

"That is the last thing I'm doing." Katie replied walking back over to Oliver's jacket and slipping the box back inside his pocket. "And soon it won't matter." the last part was muttered, but John caught it.

"What does that mean?" John asked and Katie turned to him about to speak when the door to the basement opened and in walked Oliver who didn't look none too happy.

"Not a word." Katie whispered over to John before turning to Oliver. "That is not your happy face." Oliver tossed down his bow and quiver on a nearby table. "No luck?"

"None whatsoever. It's the same conversation I have with these lowlifes in Crescent Circle. Nobody has seen a man in a skull mask. But he's still out there."

"Oliver, it's been weeks and you're pushing yourself pretty hard to look for this guy."

"He has the Mirakuru, Diggle!" Oliver snapped cutting his eyes to the man. "I mean, you saw what it took to kill one guy that had been injected. We practically had to drop a building on him. So imagine ten or a hundred, imagine a thousand."

"Alright, how about we calm down." Katie says taking a step forward and turning to Oliver. "This really has you freaked out. What haven't you told us?" Oliver let out a sigh as he began slipping off his hood. He looked between John and Katie nodded.

"I guess you should know how bad this could get." Oliver said before telling the story of his introduction to the Mirakuru back on the island and how it lead to Shado's death. It was a story that was followed by silent contemplation as everyone realized what this serum could do to their city. They all lifted their heads at the sudden noise from above them that came from the club. "The Rally."

"What Rally?" Katie asked looking over to him and Oliver realized that he'd forgotten to tell her.

"Thea is hosting a political fundraiser for Blood. I guess with everything happening I forgot to tell you about it." Oliver said and Katie just nodded. "I may have also forgotten to tell you that I'm supposed to give a bit of a speech before I bring him on stage." Katie's eyes on him were narrowing. "And I may have also forgotten to ask if you would join me."

"Your memory is getting really shotty there Liver, isn't it?" Katie replied in annoyance as she glanced over to John who seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

  
Oliver Queen does this thing with his eyes, where you find yourself wanting to disagree with something he's saying, but beyond reason you just agree. That's the only reason Katie could find for why she was standing in front of her mirror smoothing out the soft material of the off the shoulder black and blue dress that she was starting to doubt if she should wear. It wasn't too revealing, but it clung to her, showing off her curves.

"Wow." Oliver said appearing in the doorway. She glanced over to see him now changed into on of his many tailor suits that fit him perfectly. "You look beautiful. Where did you get that dress?"

"It's one of many chosen by our fair Speedy." Katie says turning back to the mirror, her eyes falling on her reflection and it hits her like it always does. That moment where the person staring back at her seems like a stranger.

_"I guess for you everyday is Halloween."_ said the gravelly voice of the tormentor inside her head. _"Putting on the costume and hoping no one sees through it."_

Katie's jaw clenched as she once again closed her eyes and took in a deep breath in hopes of pushing the voice out of her head. Soon arms came around her from behind and when she opened her eyes she looked up to see Oliver smiling at her.

"So I had an idea. It's probably crazy, but I figured why not." Oliver said as Katie placed her hand above his and let her body sink back into his.

"Your idea wouldn't by chance be skipping this rally and staying home would it?" Katie asked with a smirk and Oliver just laughed.

"No, it was more along the lines of a vacation." Oliver said and Katie quirked a brow.

"I think I've had my share of vacations." Katie replied turning in his arms to face him. "Plus I don't think Starling could last long periods of time with out their make up wearing hero."

"You know you can't tell that joke anymore, I have a mask now." Oliver replied as his hands slid down her hips. "And I meant once things have quieted down and there aren't threats to our city, you and me should—"

"Hide?" she asked and the smile fell from Oliver's face. "I won't let you do that for me." Katie pulled from his grasp and walked around him to grab her purse. "Ra's will not be your problem and I won't let him change your life. If that course of action needs to be made, then I will be the one to make it." when she turned back to Oliver he stood in the same spot.

"Why does it surprise you that I still have hope that I can save you?" Oliver said and Katie nearly laughed at the question, but she bit her lip and turned away.

"Why does it surprise you that I still have hope that I can save you?" she countered turning back to him.

"Save me from what?" Oliver asked walking over to her, when suddenly his phone rings.

"Answer it." Katie says and Oliver's eyes never pull from her.

"Answer my question." Oliver replies instead, and Katie lets out a huff before walking over to him and reaching inside of his breast pocket to grab his phone. she glances at the caller ID before pushing the phone into his chest forcing him to take it.

"It's your sister, answer it." Katie replied before walking around him out of the room.

The reason for Thea's call was only to pester him about where he was. Oliver found Katie downstairs, staring out the window, and he can't explain the look in her eyes. After a moment, she feels his eyes on her and turns to him.

"She just wants to know where we are, the rally is about to start."

"Then we should go and get this night over with." Katie replied grabbing her jacket and heading for the door, only for Oliver to take a single step to the side to block her. She doesn't want to, but she meets his eyes.

"Our conversation isn't over." Oliver says before taking the jacket from her hands and holding up to help her put it on. Katie just shakes her head before turning and slipping her arms into the jacket only for Oliver to press a kiss to her neck once it's on. Oliver Queen's kisses, no matter how short, how quick, how long or how passionate, usually said something. Whether it was a you're beautiful or I want you, they all meant something and that simple kiss on her neck was no different. It actually scared her because she knew what it meant. It meant he wasn't going to let her go and such a sentiment should make her cry with joy, but instead it scared her. Such a sentiment was dangerous and she would be damned if she let it hurt him. Once her jacket was on, she turned to face him and she just stared into his eyes. She could get lost in them and there have been a couple of times where she has, but this time she wouldn't allow herself.

"We should go." she said instead, before walking around him out the door.

Verdant was filled with some notable political names when they arrived and Katie almost laughed at the sight. Some of Starling's blue bloods in some club in the Glades.

"There you are!" Thea said appearing in front of them, her eyes looking from Oliver to Katie. "You wore the dress! It looks hot. Is that why you're late?" the youngest Queen's face suddenly scrunched in disgust before turning to her brother and smacking his arm. "You couldn't keep your hands off of her could you, you perve?"

"Oh please my annoying little sister, just tell me when I need to come to the stage."

"Like now." Thea said grabbing her brother's arm and attempting to pull him toward the stage, but was unsuccessful.

"Thea just give me a minute." Oliver replied and the young woman huffed before stalking off. Oliver turned back to Katie who smirked in amusement at the woman before turning back to Oliver and straightening his tie.

"Since when did you have time to write a speech?" Katie asked glancing up to meet his eyes.

"I haven't." Oliver replied glancing around to the crowd of people. "But I've always been good at thinking on my feet." he let out a deep breath before looking back down to the woman who could tell he was slightly nervous.

"Isn't there that saying that when giving a speech in front of a lot of people you should picture them in their underwear?" Katie asked looking to the man who looked disgusted at the thought.

"I think I would rather stick to imagining only one person in their underwear tonight." Oliver replied looking back to the woman and she could see the slight lust in his eyes and she couldn't help the next words from her mouth.

"I think that may be kind of hard Mr. Queen." she replied with a devilish smirk before leaning forward on the tips of her toes to whisper to him. "I'm not wearing any underwear."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to welcome you all to Verdant!" came the booming voice of Thea over the microphone, but Oliver could barely hear it as his attention seemed to be only on the woman in front of him. "Before I bring the man of the hour to the stage, my brother, Oliver Queen would like to say a few words. Oliver?" Oliver still seemed too distracted by the woman he's just found out wore absolutely nothing under the dress she was wearing.

"I think that's your cue Liver." Katie whispered noticing the eyes now turning to them. She turned back to him with a smile. "Just remember to focus on me, ok?" the man nodded before leaning forward and placing a kiss to Katie cheek.

"Oliver, stop kissing your girlfriend and get up here!" Thea called gaining her a few laughs and a glare from her brother as he turned and headed for the stage. Katie looked to the stage as Oliver walked over and was handed the microphone from his sister.

"Little sisters, I tell you." Oliver said smiling over to Thea who was walking from the stage. "Can't live with them and—" he shook his head slightly. "Well I guess that's it, you just can't live with them." the crowd laughed at the joke and Katie smiled.

"Funny man you have there." a familiar voice spoke from behind her and a sudden chill crept down her spine. He moved to stand beside her, before holding a flute of champagne out to her. She glanced over to it, not even making a move to take it. "Lex Luthor is at some mayoral rally for some Starling City alderman. People are watching me and right now they're wondering why Katherine Robins isn't being nice and taking the glass of champagne. I'm sure the press that's here are cooking up stories as w—"

"Will you just shut up." Katie whispers taking the glass from his hand. "Why are you here?"

"Because I knew it was a long shot that you would actually come to me and so I thought where else would you be then at Oliver Queen's side at an event hosted by his sister." Lex's eyes went back to the stage where Oliver was still giving his speech. "It was him wasn't it?" he glanced over to Katie who didn't say anything. "When we first met, you said you were getting over someone. It was Oliver wasn't it?" she still didn't say anything and so he did the one thing he knew would get her attention. He placed himself directly in front of her forcing her to look at him and he is sure the look in her eyes would probably kill a weaker man. "Hello Bear."

"Don't call me that." Katie says turning away from the man.

"What, I thought we had a deal. If I was Lexie, then you would be my Beary Bear." he smiled at the look of annoyance she threw him.

"I never understood that stupid name."

"I just came up with something one day I just knew would annoy you enough to stop calling me Lexie." Lex replied and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. "But it didn't work and after a while I didn't want it to."

"Why are you here?"

"We need to talk. I think after all of this time I at least deserve one conversation with the woman who broke my heart and then stomped on it before disappearing."

"Is that your version of what happened?" Katie asked looking to the man. "Because my version is along the lines of you keeping secrets, becoming obsessive with something with your company, shady men showing up with important meetings you needed to attend. If me leaving you was a surprise, then you really were blind." there was a sudden roar of applause and Katie figured Oliver's speech was over and the last thing she wanted was for him to find her with Lex."Goodbye Lexie." she moved to leave, when his hand suddenly shot up to grab her arm. "What are you—"

"We need to talk." Lex said pulling her closer to him. "Ever since I saw you in that hotel, I can't get you out of my head and it has to mean something, right? I mean—" a hand grabbed Lex's and pulled it back with a firm jerk. He had to bite the inside of his cheek in an effort to not make a sound as he turned to Oliver.

"Oliver let him go." Katie whispered glad most of the eyes were on stage watching Sebastian give his speech. She placed a hand on Oliver's arm and tried to pull him back, but he wasn't moving.

"I thought we had an understanding Lex. She sees you only when she wants to see you." Oliver continued to grip the man's hand. "You do not surprise her and you definitely do not touch her."

"Liver, stop it before someone sees!" Katie whispered glancing around at the crowd. She reached out and took Oliver hand and pulled it from Lex before pushing the man back to place herself between them. She turned to Lex who held his hand to his chest. "Just go back to Metropolis and forget about me. Trust me it will be the best thing for everyone in the end." and with that she grabbed Oliver's hand and pulled him with her.

"What was that about?" Oliver asked stopping them in the middle of the crowd. Katie turned to him and just shook her head.

"That was Lex being Lex." Katie sighs. "Hopefully he takes my advice and just leaves."

"And if he doesn't I'm sure someone will be able to convince him."

"I don't think a visit from the Arrow is needed." Katie said with a light warning. "Liver, don't you—"

"There you are." a voice spoke from behind Katie and they turned to see Thea who looked up to her brother. "Nice speech, I didn't know you cared so much about politics."

"I care about this city, and Sebastian has become somewhat of a friend." Oliver spoke as he glanced over to the man standing beside Laurel. Katie followed his eyes and couldn't help but wonder what Oliver was thinking at the moment at seeing Sebastian and Laurel on what looked like a date. Suddenly Oliver's hand slipped around Katie's waist pulling her closer to him and a smile came to her face as she turned to him. Sometimes she swears that man can read her mind.

"Ugh, you two are annoyingly adorable since you started dating." Thea said looking between the pair who shook their head at her. "So when's the wedding?"

"What!?" Both Oliver and Katie said suddenly with wide eyes.

"What wedding?" Oliver said. "There is no wedding, who said anything about a wedding?"

"Ollie, it was a joke." Thea replied with a shake of her head before narrowing her eyes at the couple. "Unless I got close to a truth." Katie glanced over to Oliver who turned to her and she suddenly felt nervous. The thought of the ring crept back into her memory before she turned back to Thea.

"Don't worry Speedy, there is no wedding." Katie says before glancing around. "That is not even in the cards right now." she finally turned to Oliver. "I'm going to get a drink."

"I can get you something—"

"No, I got it. Talk to your sister." she placed a kiss to his cheek before walking over to the bar.

Thea watched as her brother's eyes stayed on the woman until she reached the bar. She noticed the look in his eyes.

"I know that look." Thea said and Oliver turned back to her. "That's disappointment. You weren't planning on proposing to her, were you?" Oliver looked over his shoulder back to the bar where Katie stood before turning back to his sister.

"No, she's right." he said with a slight shake of his head. "It's too soon to even be thinking about marriage."

"Or maybe she only said it because she thinks that’s what you think." Thea replied with a shrug. "I'm just saying there's still a chance." Oliver looked back over to the bar, his eyes darkening when he doesn't see her.

"Thea, I'm going to—"

"There you two are." Moira says walking up to her children. Oliver turns and forces a smile to his face as he forces himself not to just turn and walk off to go find Katie.

He sticks in there until his mother and Thea go off into the crowd, and is about to go find her when he gets stuck in another conversation with Sebastian and then Laurel. Once he's free once again, he sifts through the crowd letting his eyes shift back and forth in search of her. He feels his heart about to beat out of his chest until he finally spots her. She's in a corner of the club away from the crowd with her phone pressed to her ear. He takes a deep breath before walking over.

"No, that's fine." he hears her says. "No, I'm sure. Thanks." when she ends the call, she immediately feels the presence behind her and turns to see Oliver. "Hey, I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Before your secret call in the corner of the club?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away.

"It was just Bruce." Katie replied turning to him. "He's with Felicity in Central city and he was just catching me up on what was happening with Barry. Stop being so paranoid." He opened his mouth to say something when a hand touched his shoulder. They both turned to see John standing there with a very serious look on his face.

"We have a problem." John said. "There's been an explosion down in the financial district." Without another word being said, Katie and Oliver both followed after the man, slipping into the basement unseen.

"Anyone in the building?" Oliver asked as they rushed down the stairs.

"Cleaning crew and a group of bankers working out a late night deal." John answered as they walked over to the computers.

"Can you patch me into police and fire?"

"I'm on it." John replies before dropping into Felicity’s seat. He begins typing away, and Oliver turns to him with a furrowed brow. It usually doesn't take this long when he asks Felicity to do it.

"Diggle..."

"Hey, man, this is not my thing." John says when Katie comes up beside him and types a few keys on the computer and suddenly the sound of voices could be heard from the speakers. Both Oliver and John turn to her and she looks back and shrugs.

"As much as you tell me to stay here, I was bound to learn something." Katie replied as their eyes turned to the screen when they heard the voices.

_"It's too hot. We're falling back. " _

_"You've still got people on the 5th floor." _

_"It's too hot. We're pulling back."_

A frown fell to Oliver's face before he turned and grabbed his bow.

"I can come with you." Katie suggested and Oliver turned with a shake of his head. "I can—"

"It's just not happening!" he said his voice more aggressive than he wanted it to be. He took a deep breath and his features soften. "I'm sorry for yelling, but right now I need to get to this building and help these people. That's what I need to focus on." Katie silently nodded before walking back over to where John sat. Oliver looked at her for a moment knowing she was upset and he really was going to have to figure out a way to be alright with her putting on the mask. He took another deep breath before grabbing his hood. Once changed, Oliver didn't hesitate before heading to the explosion site.

After only ten minutes, Katie looked over to the clock before turning and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" John asked stand to his feet. Katie stopped and turned back to him.

"I have a meeting."

"A meeting? This late?" John asked the skepticism clear in his voice. "Where are you going Katie?"

"I have a meeting." Katie repeated with a firm nod. "Since I'm still an adult and can move and shake to the beat of my own drum, that's all I'm telling you."

"And Oliver, you know he's going to freak when he finds out." John replied and Katie glanced over to the clock once again before turning back to him.

"I know, but I will be back and hopefully he will get over it." Katie replied turning and heading for the back entrance. She stopped before actually leaving and turned back to John. "Wait until he comes back to tell him I'm gone. He should be focused when he's out there." John just nodded before watching the woman walk out the door. John stood there and prayed that Katie returned before Oliver.

It had to be about a little bit over an hour when John heard the door to the basement open. He glanced over to his shoulder to see Oliver coming down the stair, his face darkened from soot. Oliver dropped his bow and arrows to the table as he pulled the hood from his head.

"How did it go?" John asked standing to his feet.

"Everyone got out ok, so that's the good thing." Oliver said stretching his sore muscles as he grabs his bow and places it back in its case. "The perpetrator is still at large." he glances over to John, before looking over to the bathroom door. "Where's Twinkie?" Oliver turns back to John who lets out sigh and Oliver eyes darkened. "When did she leave?"

"A few minutes after you left. She said she was going to a meeting, and that's all she would tell me." John replies and Oliver's jaw clenches as he turns and grabs his jacket about to leave, when the back entrance to the basement opens and in walks Katie. The woman stops walking when she sees both men staring at her.

"What did I miss?" she asks turning to Oliver who looks ten shades of pissed at the moment. "Did you lose someone in the fire."

"No, everyone is fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Are you really going to ask that question?" Oliver asks storming over to her. "With everything that's happening, you just disappear in the middle of the night to have some secret meeting and you ask what is wrong?"

"Maybe I should head out." John says seeing a conversation coming that he doesn't think he should be apart of. "I will look more into this explosion and I'll call you tomorrow." Oliver simply gave the man a nod before John gathered his things and left the two alone.

"I can't do this. Protect this city and worry about you at the same time." Oliver said and Katie just shook her head. "What?"

"Nothing, you're right. You shouldn't have to do both, so how about we just get rid of one." Katie replied before turning and heading for the door. She heard his heavy footsteps behind her and before she could even touch the door, his hand caught her arm and spun her to face him.

"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant—"

"Oliver, do you remember what I told you when I first came to Starling and I agreed to stay here?" Katie asked staring up to his blue eyes. "I told you that I would not play your damsel. It is not your job to keep me safe." she dropped her eyes from his and chose to stare at his chest. "Maybe—"

"No." Oliver interrupted before words he didn't want spoken came from her mouth. She looked back to his eyes and once again let the words just die on her tongue. He placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Keeping you safe is not a job, it's not something I feel I have to do. I don't think you understand the extant of what I mean when I say I love you." Katie wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

He was really making this hard.


	14. BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE

**Chapter 14**

**BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE  
**

_"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others._

_And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."  
-Dalai Lama_

* * *

_Katie could practically hear the clapping of the demon's hands as she stood above the now beaten ARGUS agents who laid on the floor beneath her. Her fists were still clenched at her side as her chest heaved. She noticed the side arm attached to one of the men and she knelt down to pick it up. _

_"Don't do it!" a voice ordered and Katie lifted her eyes to see the barrel of a gun aimed right at her. Her eyes trailed to the person holding it with a dark glare. "Stand up, now!" Katie lifted her hands in surrender as she stood up straight. "What the fuck do you think you were doing?" _

_"Just a nice stroll and then these guys just came out of nowhere." Katie replied with a cocky smirk. "Drop the gun Agent Michaels, you and I both know you can't shoot me." Katie turned back to the door she'd tried to escape through and was about to walk over when a gun shot rang through the hall. Her hand quickly shot to her neck where she felt blood from the bullet grazing her before she turned back to the woman. _

_"I can't kill you, but I can shoot you." Lyla growled in anger as she stormed over to Katie. "This isn't a game, or some trick. You're here Ms. Robins, so you might as well give up." and with that the agent turned and walked off. "Tomorrow you're given your first assignment!" _

_"What assignment?!" _

_"You're not the only one who escaped Ra's Al Ghul." Lyla simply called. _

The next morning Katie's eyes snapped open from the dream, and the first thing she noticed was the panic and fear that usually followed such a dream just wasn't there. What was there was a strong arm wrapped around her middle, and a warm body pressed against her back. Oliver Queen was making what she had to do so much harder and if at all possible, it made her love him even more. Her eyes drifted to the sunlight that filtered through the window, and just like every other morning she wondered if today would be the day Ra's made his move. She hated the fear that just the mere thought of the man put inside of her. Soon she felt the hand that rest above her stomach move underneath her shirt.

"I see you're awake." she said, her voice still filled with sleep.

"Mhm." he muttered as his lips soon began moving across her neck.

"You have meetings today." Katie replied trying not to get lost in the man's arms as he continues his dance with his lips.

"I went in yesterday." he replied as his hands began searching for something she was sure he was going to find if she didn't stop him.

"Yes, but you promised your mother and devil woman that your place would remain at the company and—" a moan escaped her lips as Oliver's hand seemed to get closer and closer to removing all rationale from the room. She quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. "You have a responsibility."

"I have many responsibilities doctor." Oliver says turning the woman to her back and shifting her leg over his hip. "To the city, to my company and to you and right now I am prioritizing." and with that he dropped his lips to meet hers, swallowing the moan that escaped her lips as he brought their bodies closer. It took no expert to see where this moment was leading as the room filled with the sounds of their combined moans. Everything seemed perfect for a few moments, until the shrill sound of the doorbell sounded though the room and tearing them from the moment. Oliver lifted his head and turned toward the door.

"You forgot to call your driver who takes you to these meetings didn't you?" Katie asked and Oliver turned back to her and just marveled at her for a moment. It was the way her chest rose and fell as she tried to catch her breath, or maybe it was her slightly swollen lips that he wanted to kiss once again, but he found himself leaning back to her. "Liver—" his lips were mere inches away from hers when the doorbell rang again. Oliver lets out a frustrated groan before dropping his head to Katie's shoulder. "If someone doesn't answer, he's going to think something is wrong." Oliver lifted his head to meet her eyes. "I tried to stop you before you went too far and now we're both all hot and bothered. This is your fault."

"I know." Oliver replied before finally slipping out of bed. He grabs a t shirt and a pair of shorts before heading downstairs to let John in.

While Oliver is upstairs getting ready, Katie sits across from John ignoring his eyes on her as she sips her coffee.

"You're being annoying, you know that."

"When are you leaving?" John asked suddenly and Katie turned to him with a look of confusion. "Don't look at me like that. It's happening, I know it's happening and I'm sure Oliver knows it's happening too, he just thinks he can somehow stop it from happening."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Katie replied once again turning away from the man.

"Look I don't know anything about this Ra's Al Ghul guy, other then what I've heard, so him coming for you or whatever, I don't know what that really entails."

"It entails death and destruction until he gets what he wants." Katie replied looking down at the coffee in her mug before turning back over to John.

"He loves you."

"I know that."

"Then you know he won't just let you leave. He will try to find you and that means that thing he didn't want happening. Him forgetting his responsibility to this city will go right out the window." Katie stood to her feet and walked over to place her cup in the sink.

"Don't worry John." Katie says with her back to the man. "Oliver won't have to find me, because he won't have to look."

"Alright." Oliver says walking into the kitchen, now dressed in the suit he hates. He looks between John and Katie and can't help but feel the tension in the room. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah." John says standing to his feet. "I will meet you outside." and with that the man walks from the kitchen and heads outside to the car.

"What was that about?" Oliver asked and Katie turned to him and just shrugged. He looked over her clothes to see she was still wearing her flannel pajama bottoms and t shirt. "Why aren't you dressed?"

"Because I'm not coming to QC with you today." Katie replied folding her arms over her chest. Oliver walked over to her with an expected protest, but she wouldn't even let him start. "I'm home and this place has been installed with all the bells and whistles necessary to keep me safe and I know Felicity has given you access to some of them so you know what's happening when you aren't here." Katie places her hands above his chest.

"I find myself worrying about you when I'm not with you." Oliver admitted and Katie sent the man a small smile.

"One day you won't have to." she replied and he just stared into her eyes for a moment before bringing his lips to hers in a short, but sweet kiss.

"Think about the vacation please." he said before one final kiss and then he was off.

Once the door closed behind him, Katie felt her insides crumbling. She turned and grasp the sink, just to keep her on her feet. Soon the doorbell rings and Katie lifts her head and takes a deep breath before turning and heading for the door. She only stops to grab the gun she has taped underneath the hallway table. When she is just a couple of feet away from the door, she stops and stands a bit straighter.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice low.

"Courier!" came the voice from the other side of the door, and Katie takes a step forward and pulls open the door, keeping the gun out of sight. "Delivery for a Ms. Katherine Robins. Sign here." the young man holds a tablet to her, and she signs her name before he hands her a large envelope. "Have a nice day." 

Katie simply nods before closing the door. Her feet seem heavy as the walk into they living room. She drops on the couch sitting her gun on the table as she examines the envelope. She knew what was inside, knew it would be coming soon and she guessed now it was here. As expected her phone rang, and she knew it was only Oliver calling to see who had come by. After explaining that it was just neighborhood kids messing around, Katie found herself just sadly moving about the house.

At some point she knew it was going to happen again, she was going to find herself outside the door that leads to the hole in her heart and it was going to stop her and make her look at it. This time, Katie takes another step forward, and then another, and her hand touches the cold metal of the doorknob. All it would take was a turn of her wrist, and yet she can't do it, sadly such a task seemed impossible at the moment.

Katie went back to her room and headed straight for her closet where she pushed aside the hanging clothes to reveal the polka dot suit case that she'd been dreading for the past couple of days. The night Oliver revealed what he knew about Ra's, the first things she did when he fell asleep was dump as many clothes as she could into the case before storing it in her closet for when it was needed.

Each day she planned to leave and every time something happened. Something stopped her and nine times out of ten that something was Oliver. He seemed so intent on keeping her here and protecting her and she could never find it in herself to just walk away. That's not how it could happen and so she came up with a plan that now had a time clock. If this was happening then it was happening soon and so she would have to get some things in order. The door bell rang, and Katie moved the clothes to once again hide the suit case before going to see who was at the door. She did make a bit of a detour to grab her gun, before going to the door.

"It's me Robins!" a voice called from the other side before she could even speak. Katie rolled her eyes before reaching forward and pulling open the door. Bruce stood there for a moment, his eyes looking her over, studying her.

"What are you doing here Bruce?" Katie asked turning and walking from the door. Bruce took it as a silent invitation, to which he walked inside as well, closing the door behind him.

"I came to check on you. After finding about Ra's—"

"About that." Katie says stopping and turning to him, making sure her gun was in full view. "Why the hell did you tell Oliver and not me?"

"You weren't talking to me and—"

"Bullshit. You know if you came to me with this, if you were honest for once in your life then I would've listened. And now you've made a mess of everything. "

"What are you talking about?"

"You shouldn't have told him Bruce. This would be easier if you just didn't tell him."

"What would be easier?" Bruce asked, but Katie just turned away and it suddenly clicked. "You're leaving?" he took a few steps forward. "Good, I can get the plane ready to go and we could be in Gotham by tomorrow morning."

"I'm not going to Gotham Bruce." Katie replied with a shake of her head. " Because despite what you may believe, you're no match for Ra's and beyond that, I'm not looking for someone to protect me. I just need to disappear and get away from the things he's going to try to use against me." she turned and headed for the kitchen, sitting the gun down on the table.

"And then what?" Bruce asked following behind her. "You run until he gets tired, because you and I both know that won't happen."

"Who says I'm going to be running from him?" Katie asked turning back to Bruce who stared at her waiting for her to tell him she was kidding, but nothing came.

"Please tell me you're not planning to go back there and face this bastard by yourself, because I don't think I have to tell you how much of a dumbass plan that is." Katie just shook her head before walking out of the kitchen, and trying her best to just get out of this conversation. She ended up in the living room where Bruce followed her. "I won't let you do that Robins, you know that don't you."

"Will you stop trying to control this!" Katie snapped turning back to him. "That's your problem and Oliver's problem. You think because you put on that mask that you can just take on anything." Katie walked over placing herself in front of him. "I spent far more time with the demon than you. I know him, know what he's doing. He wants me to pull my hair out with anticipation of his next move, but I won't let him get that satisfaction. I will beat him." Katie turned and stormed away, climbing the stairs and not looking back. Bruce was about to follow after her, when he spotted the envelope on the table. He reached down and picked it up before pulling out its contents. His eyes widen at what he was reading and he took out his cell phone with a shake of his head.

_"Mr. Wayne, this is a surprise. I've been hearing rumors that all the time you're spending in Starling is a sign that you may be moving there." _

"You know not to pay attention to rumors Lucius." Bruce said letting his eyes scan over the document. "I'm calling because I need you to set up a meeting with the board today."

_"May I ask why?_" Lucius Fox asked.

"Remember that just in case I mentioned before coming to Starling, well I think we're at that point."

_"Are you sure?"_

"At this point I'm not being given much of a choice."

Bruce wasn't sure if he should leave after hanging up with Lucius and so he sat down on the couch in hopes that Katie would come back downstairs so he could talk some sense into her. At some point he must have dozed off, because he suddenly heard what sounded like someone trying to get in the front door. Bruce jumped to his feet and moved swiftly toward the door, taking on the persona that usually made an appearance at night. He stopped at the hall and waited forever was coming inside so he could catch them by surprise. Soon the door popped open and Bruce stood up a little bit straighter as he readied to attack.

"No, I thought I would call and let you know that I was here instead of you calling me." came the familiar voice of Felicity Smoak. "It's called being proactive Oliver. Look, we should be headed over to the foundry in a few." Felicity hung up the phone and nearly jumped out of her skin when she turned to see Bruce who she clearly didn't expect. "Son of a—" she placed a hand above her heart that now felt like it was trying to beat out of her chest. "Are you trying to kill me? What are you doing here?"

"Came to check on Robins." Bruce said walking over to the woman. "I hadn't spoken to her since she found out about Ra's and I wanted to see how she was doing."

"And?"

"And, I'm still not so sure." Bruce chose to say instead of the entire truth. "Robins has a way of building up this wall so you don't see what she's really feeling unless she tells you."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Felicity said with a hint of a smirk as she looked to the man.

"I hope my feelings aren't too much of a mystery Felicity."

"Sometimes they aren't." the woman replied as Bruce's hand slid around her waist. "But then you tell me that maybe we should postpone our date and then I'm confused again." Felicity placed her hands along Bruce's chest and looked up to meet his eyes. "I'm sort of always confused when it comes to you Bruce." Bruce leaned into her and Felicity thought he was just going to kiss her, but he stopped just a few inches short of her lips.

"Well Felicity, I'm usually confused with the majority of my life." the man replied as a smile came to his lips. "Except when I'm with you. So please don't misunderstand my wanting to wait for our date. When it happens, I want to focus completely on you and our moment."

"Well when you put it like that." Felicity whispered before Bruce's lips finally met hers. Felicity's mind usually goes completely blank when she kisses the man and the complete opposite happens with Bruce. His mind fills with possibilities he wasn't sure could happen once upon a time. Hell, to this day he still isn't sure, but when he's with her there's a flicker of hope that he holds on to. Soon Felicity's back is against the wall, and there is practically no space between them and if one of them doesn't stop this then it won't happen. And yet at the moment, neither seems to have the ability to stop what was happening. Bruce's hand reached behind her for the zipper of her dress, as Felicity's hand reached for the his belt buckle.

"Whoa!" a voice yelled and both Felicity and Bruce pulled away quickly and turned to see Katie standing on the stairs with an utter look of horror on her face. "What in the actual fuck is happening in my house right now."

"Well we—" Felicity and Bruce stammered, turning to each other in hopes of a believable story would just aparate and yet nothing came to mind.

"Look Robins, we got a little carried away."

"No Bruce you got a lot carried away and if I didn't come when I did, then you two were going to force me to burn my house to the ground." Katie replied with a shake of her head as she continued down the stairs. "I thought you were in Central city checking in with Barry."

"I was and then I heard about our city's new bomber and thought you guys might need me." Felicity replied as she tried to straighten her dress. "Which is why I'm here. I told Oliver I would give you a ride to the foundry and we would meet him and John there."

"Or more like Oliver was busy with some work stuff and he asked if you could come here and babysit me?"

"Potato, potahto." Felicity replied with a smirk as she turned back to Bruce. "What about you, are we gaining a Batman for this case?"

"Actually no." Bruce replied turning to Katie. "Something has come up with Wayne Enterprises and I am due for a video meeting in oh,—" he glanced down to his watch. "Half an hour."

"Do you have your key?" Felicity asked and the man just nodded before placing a kiss to the woman's cheek. He turned back to Katie before leaving.

"Make sure all your moves are smart moves, Robins." Bruce said and Katie simply nodded before watching the man hurry out the door.

"So—" Katie says and Felicity turns to her. "He has a key?"

"It's just a key."

"Keys are kind of serious Smoaks." Katie replied as she walked over to grab her jacket. "I just want you to be careful with Bruce."

"What do you mean?" Felicity asked and Katie turned back to her.

"That invisible elephant you two probably refuse to talk about. He lives in Gotham and you live in Starling. At some point that is going to be an issue and I just don't want you to get too deep before it does."

"I think what happens with me and Bruce should stay between me and Bruce." Felicity replied not sure why she was so offensive all of a sudden. The truth was Katie was right and it really was the last thing she wanted to think about. Katie just looked at the woman for a moment before giving a nod.

"Right, what do I know? Me and Oliver are the poster children for dysfunctional relationships." Katie replied before heading out with Felicity.

Felicity and Katie arrived at the foundry first. While Felicity typed away on her computer, Katie found herself off to the side holding Oliver's bow, with an arrow at the ready at a target she had set up on the wall on the other side of the basement. Katie kept her breaths slow and to a minimum as she kept her eyes on the target. She blocked out everything around her as her fingers pulled the bow string back. She had become so focused that she didn't even hear Oliver and John come in. She wasn't even aware of their presence until she felt a warm breath tickling the back of her neck.

"That's an easy shot." Oliver spoke and Katie tried to fight the smile that tugged at her lips, but she couldn't. He suddenly held out a tennis ball and Katie turned to look at it. "Now this, this I would find impressive."

"Seriously?" Katie asked looking over her shoulder to the man who simply nodded. "I don't know. I guess I could try." Oliver smiled before turning and with jerk of his arm sent the ball flying. Katie's eyes shot to the ball, her eyes focused completely on it and at the perfect moment she released the arrow hitting the ball, and meeting the target against the wall. "Wow." Katie says turning to Oliver with wide eyes. "Lucky shot, right?" Oliver knew she was being sarcastic and just shook his head as he reached over to take the bow from her hand before leaning forward to place a quick kiss to her lips.

"You're such a smart ass." he replied as he turned to return the bow to his case.

"Alright you two, stop being adorable!" Felicity called before Oliver and Katie looked over to her. "I've contacted Lance, and he has a meeting with the Arrow tonight at the meeting spot with some pieces of the bomb that were collected." Oliver just nodded before glancing down to his watch.

"What?" Felicity muttered suddenly and everyone's eyes went over to the woman who couldn't tear her gaze from the computer. John and Oliver walked over to see what the woman was looking at, and suddenly they all turned to Katie who looked at them in confusion.

"What?" Katie asked before walking over to see what had everyone being so weird. Katie read the breaking news and her eyes narrowed before taking a couple of steps back and turning and heading for the door.

"Twinkie?" Oliver calls going after her. Katie doesn't say anything as she keeps walking. Oliver just looks over to John and Felicity. "I'll be back to meet with Lance." they both nodded before watching the man rush from the door. Felicity and John both turn back to the computer screen and Felicity places a hand over her mouth.

"Did you know about this?" John asked and Felicity looked at him with clear offense.

"Of course I didn't know about this." The woman turned back to the computer and just shook her head. "I can't believe he would do this."

When Katie stepped off the elevators of Robins Incorporate, she walked tall and practically oozed the anger she was feeling. Everyone in her way quickly moved aside.

"Twinkie you need to calm down, maybe this is all a misunderstanding." Oliver said hoping to put the woman's mind at ease, but it didn't work. Katie didn't say anything until she reached the desk of Jeremy's assistant who was packing her things in a box, and holding back tears. The moment Katie walked over, the woman looked up with wide eyes.

"Where is he?" Katie asked.

"He's gone." the woman replied. "The moment it happened, he went crazy, he was throwing things and yelling and then he just left." the woman shook her head. "I didn't know what else I was supposed to do, so I just started packing my things."

"Kim—" Katie says with a slight smile. "Unpack your things, you are not fired." The woman gave Katie a smile as she let out a sigh of relief. "Where is the board?"

"They're in a meeting. I thought someone would have called you."

"So did I." Katie replied before turning and storming down the hall toward the board room. She stopped in front of the double doors, before looking over to Oliver.

"You're not going to hit anyone." Oliver warned and Katie shook her head before turning and bursting through the doors. Suddenly all eyes turned to her, but Katie's eyes were on the man sitting at the head of the table.

"Ms. Robins." Bruce said standing to his feet with a smile. "I was going to call, but I thought the board and I should meet first." Katie silently took a step forward, but Oliver grabbed her arm as he saw a familiar look in her eyes. Bruce looked back to the faces of the board members. "I think that is all for today. Thank you all for coming and I look forward to doing great things with all of you." The board members stood to their feet, giving Bruce a nod and purposefully avoiding Katie's eyes as they filed out of the room. Once they were gone, all that was left were Katie, Bruce and Oliver.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Oliver asked glaring over to the man, but Bruce kept his eyes on Katie.

"Being proactive before Robins here made the biggest mistake of her life." Bruce replied.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked looking over to Katie and then back to Bruce.

"She knows what I mean, don't you Robins?" Katie didn't say anything for a few moments before she turned to Oliver.

"I need a moment alone with Bruce." Katie said and Oliver's brow furrowed in confusion. "I won't be long." Oliver still wasn't sure what was going on, but nodded and turned leaving the pair alone.

"I found the contract Robins." Bruce said and Katie turned back to him. "You were going to sign it all over to Jeremy. What were you thinking?! Jeremy was the last person your father wanted running this company."

"And yet for the past year he has been running this company and it has never been more profitable!" Katie snapped angrily.

"And never has he!" Bruce replied picking up a folder and tossing it across the table causing papers to fly out. "Escrow accounts all over the place. He's been stealing from the company Robins and the minute you handed him the wheel, would be the day this company died." Katie picked up one of the papers and just shook her head before glancing back to Bruce.

"You want to run this company, fine. Make sure it prospers." she tossed the paper aside before turning and heading for the door.

"You think taking on this fight will be easier by yourself?!" Bruce called after her and Katie stopped and shook her head. "It won't."

"No, but it would be fair." Katie said turning back to Bruce. "If it's just me and him—“

"And you think that would be fair?!" Bruce replied. "You're good Robins, but you're not good enough to beat the demon."

"I guess we'll just have to see, won't we?" she said with a slight shrug before turning and finally leaving the room. She found Oliver waiting just outside in the hall and she glanced over to hanging clock. "You should go, you have your meeting with Lance."

"What was that about?" Oliver asked glancing over to the door. "What's happening?"

"Wayne Enterprises has taken over control of Robins Incorporated." Katie said simply before turning and walking down the hall. Oliver stood there for a moment in confusion before going after her.

"Why? Shouldn't you be doing something? Contacting lawyers or shareholders?" he asked as they walked over to the elevator.

"I probably should, but I'm not." Katie replied turning to Oliver. "C'mon, you know I don't belong running some place like this." she let her eyes scan around the halls she remembers visiting as a child with her father. "Someone should be here who knows what they're doing."

"And Jeremy?" Oliver asked and Katie let out a light chuckle.

"Apparently he was stealing from the company." she replied as the doors to the elevators slid open and she stepped in side.

"So, no Hospital and no company." Oliver said walking on as well. He looked over to Katie who simply let her back fall back against the wall. "What's going on Twinkie?"

"What do you mean?" Katie replied rubbing her tired eyes.

"You're letting it all go, am I next?" Oliver asked and Katie stopped and brought her eyes to him.

"We're not having this conversation now." Katie replied glancing up to the numbers on the elevator. The doors finally reached their floor and she moved to leave, but Oliver blocked her before reaching over to press the emergency stop causing the door to close again and the lights to go out. "What are you doing?"

"I love you." Oliver said and Katie shook her head and turned her back to him. "Whatever is going on in your head right now, I want you to know that."

"I do." she replied turning back to him. "Just like I hope you know that every part of me loves you." Oliver stared at her for a second before grabbing her waist and pressing her back against the wall. "Oliver, you still have that meeting with Lance." Oliver continued to stare into Katie's eyes as if he didn't hear anything she'd said as he leaned in closer. "Liv—" her words were cut by Oliver's lips against hers and all objects left her and she found herself in this moment. Soon his lips moved to the soft skin of her neck and a moan escaped her lips, and his fingers dug deeper into her hips. It wasn't until his fingers slid down and popped open the buttons of her pants, before sliding inside did they both know that they were gong to be late for any plans they made before this moment.

When they finally arrived at the foundry, Oliver and Katie both rushed inside. Oliver hurried over to grab his hood as he began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Where the hell have you been? Your meeting with Lance is like now." John said looking from Oliver to Katie who looked just as ruffled as Oliver. "Really?" Both Oliver and Katie avoided his gaze when they realized he knew they were late. "Oliver, I thought we had an understanding about—"

"I'm here Diggle!" Oliver snapped looking back to the man. "I'm going to change and meet Lance so we can find this guy and stop him." John just shook his head before turning and walking back over to where Felicity sat behind her computer trying to stay out of the conversation. Oliver looks over to Katie who can't hide the look of guilt on her face. He walks over and takes her hand in his. "Hey, it's alright."

"No, it's not." she whispered back. Oliver wanted to stay and convince her that she shouldn't feel guilty about what they did, but really didn't have time. He placed a kiss to her cheek before going to change. Once Oliver was gone, and the Arrow was in his place, there were no farewells before the man left to meet with Lance.

"You know I remember us all having a really uncomfortable conversation about how your relationship wouldn't change this. The work we're doing here." John said looking over to Katie who refused to look at him.

"John, we are both very much aware that what happened shouldn't have happened. Not with this guy still running loose, so please just stop." Katie said and John opened his mouth to speak, but Felicity stood to her feet.

"John, it's done, it's over. Let's just move on." John just shook his head and turned and walked away. Felicity looked over to Katie with an apologetic smile before walking over to her. "Don't worry about him, how did it go? Was what the news said true?"

"Yeah, hostile take over by Wayne Enterprises of Robins incorporated has gone into effect." Katie sighed.

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea he was planning this and if I did, I would've definitely told you."

"I know, and I don't blame you. Hell, I don't really blame him." Katie sighed as she looked over to John. "John was right. Oliver has a duty to this city."

"He also has a duty to you." Felicity replied and Katie turned to her. "His girlfriend, the woman he loves. So sometimes he will choose you over everything else."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Katie muttered before turning and grabbing her bag and rushing out the door.

Later that night Katie found herself sitting on the edge of her bed with her cell phone gripped in her hands. She had thought up a plan and it was the last thing she wanted to do. She analyzed over and over again and came to the same conclusion. It would work. So when she heard the sound of the front door opening, Katie closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before standing to her feet and walking into the bathroom, making sure to leave it open just a crack.

Oliver quietly opened the door to the bedroom not wanting to wake Katie if she was asleep, but when he walked in he saw the bed empty. His eyes went over to the bathroom, where he could see that the light was still on. He let out an exhausted breath, before pulling off his jacket.

"That's impossible." he heard her say from the bathroom and his brow furrowed in confusion. "Because I can't. Not now, not yet. " Oliver walked over and tilted his head slightly to the door. "Well that was your own fault, I told you it was too risky with so many people around." she was silent once again. "I know, I do too, but soon. I promise. Look I have to go, I'll talk to you later."

Oliver quickly moved from the door and went about unbuttoning his shirt when Katie walked out.

"Oh, hey, I didn't hear you come in. How did the meeting with Lance go?" Oliver looked over to her, and wanted so badly to ask her about yet another secret phone call he'd overheard. He knew like every other time, she'd brush it off, so he figured he'd look into without her.

"Fine until there was another explosion." Oliver said.

"Seriously?" Katie asked walking over and sliding onto the bed in front of him.

"Felicity was able to grab the signal of the device he used, but I guess he's really good with computers because he scrambled the signal and Felicity almost got me hit by a bus."

"Well if this guy was able to get one over on Felicity, then he must be good." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I'm sure at some point this guy is going to slip up and we will have him."

"Hopefully before he blows up another building."

"Well fingers crossed." Katie says sliding from the bed. "I'm hungry. You want something?" Oliver just shook his head. Katie simply nodded before pressing a kiss to his cheek and walking out the room. Oliver's eyes went to the bed where she had left her phone. He knew he shouldn't do what he's thinking, but with the way Katie's been acting lately, he doesn't think he has a choice. And so he walks over and picks up her phone and finds to the last call to see the letters, "LL" on the screen.

"What is going on with you Twinkie?" he muttered to himself.

"Hey, Liver! You may want to come down to see this!" Katie called and Oliver placed her phone back on the bed before going to see what was happening. When he walked downstairs, he walked into the living room, his eyes going to Sebastian Blood on the television giving a speech.

_"_ _Tomorrow night, I am holding Starling's first ever unity rally at City Plaza. We are going to show the world that the people of this great city will not back down to terrorists."_

"Because when financial and political institutions are being blown to bits, of course you should throw a rally." Katie said before turning to Oliver.

"He's committing suicide and he just invited the entire city to join him." Oliver said still staring at the screen incredulously before turning to Katie.

"Someone needs to talk him out of this." She replied turning back to the television. "You two have become awful chummy lately, you think you could talk some sense into him."

"I don't think there is anything Oliver Queen can tell him that can change his mind." Oliver said and Katie shook her head and looked back over to him.

"It's still weird when you do that." she replied. "And do you really think a visit from our hooded hero is the best idea right now?"

"I guess I'll find out."

"So you're leaving again?" Katie asked and Oliver met her eyes as she shook her head. "Right, this is the life of being the girlfriend to a hero." Oliver walked over to her with slight confusion. This was the first time she'd ever had a problem with his duties as the Arrow.

"Hey, I"m sorry, but this is important and I don't think it should wait." Oliver says wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. "I won't be gone long."

"I know." Katie replied with a slight smile. Oliver placed a soft kiss to her lips and looked into her eyes for a few moments. He'd often try to see the things she wouldn't tell him in her eyes and more often than none he was unsuccessful. "You should go before you miss him." Oliver just nodded before pulling away. Once he was gone, Katie sat down on the couch and flicked off the television surrounding herself in darkness. Her plan was in motion and she was sure there was no stopping it now.

The next day, the mission was simple. If Blood was going to go through with this Rally, then they were going to have to find the guy blowing up the city. They all mulled about watching the news and waiting on Felicity to finish analyzing the remnants from the last explosion Lance had given to Oliver.

"You're quiet." Oliver says walking over to Katie who stood leaning against a wall off to herself. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, just thinking." Katie replied turning to him. "About this guy who likes to blow up things. Just reminds me that no matter how many bad guys you take down a night, there's always another one to take their place. You have to ask yourself if there is even a point?"

"I haven't gotten to that point yet." Oliver replied watching the woman closely. He still felt as if she was hiding something and he just didn't know what it was. "Have you?"

"I haven't been given the chance to get to that point." Katie replied turning away from him. "You seem to think I'm too fragile to actually go out there and make a difference."

"Not fragile, just...vulnerable." Oliver said and Katie turned to him in confusion.

"Vulnerable to what?" Oliver looked at her for a moment before deciding he was going to be completely honest.

"Ra's unlocked something inside of you. This thing that won't even let you sleep at night. I think going out there, putting on that mask is only going to awaken whatever that was. This Nura. She's not a hero, she's Ra's monster." Katie stared at Oliver with wide eyes obviously not expecting that answer from him. The crazy thing about is she thinks it's the truth and she's been trying to avoid it. "I just think you need to take some time to—" Katie held up a hand for him to stop talking. "Twinkie—"

"I think I got something." Felicity spoke and Katie just shook her head before they all walked over to hear Felicity's findings.

"I analyzed the bomb remnants we got from Lance. The design's identical to the bombs used by an anti government militia group called the Movement."

"Huh?" Katie muttered and their eyes turned to her. "Oh, sorry. I've heard of the movement. Their name was tossed around during my time with Doctors Without Boarders. They were causing headaches."

"Well lucky for us, they have a very active and hackable message board." Felicity said before typing in a few keys bringing up the board. "One of their most prolific fans has an IP address right here in Starling."

"Tell me." Oliver ordered his eyes still on the screen.

"The computer's in a local souvenir shop. The whackadoo in question goes by the username Shrapnel."

"You want back up?" John asked and Oliver glanced between him and Katie before shaking his head.

"No, you should head to the rally. Cover all of our bases." Oliver said before glancing to Katie. "You should—"

"Go with him." Katie said before turning and grabbing her coat.

"That's not what I was going to say." Oliver replied following after her.

"I know that. I know you think me attempting to do good will some how feed the darkness inside of me—"

"That's not what I—"

"The opposite happens Oliver." Katie said and Oliver's words stopped when she said his name, something she rarely did. "The things I've done, lives I've helped saved are all things the demon taught me not to do. He taught me to think about only me, only my survival and when I go out there and put other's lives before mine, that's me beating him. So yes, I am going with John to the rally, in case this bastard tries to blow up our city once again." she glanced over to John with expectant look. "We should go." John glanced over to Oliver, unsure of what he should do until Oliver turned to him and just nodded. John walked over to grab his jacket before he and Katie left.

Oliver stood in the same spot for a few moments and Felicity turned to him.

"At some point you're going to have to get on the train Oliver." Felicity said and the man looked over to her. "You know you see it. We all do. She's good at this hero thing. Has the heart for it. It's time to just let her give it a try." Oliver stood there for a moment before turning and walking away.

Once everyone was gone, Felicity was left at the helm to make sure her team all came back safe and sound. She kept her eyes fixed on the monitor in front of her when she heard the back door of the basement open. She turned looking over her shoulder, her lips pursed and eyes narrowed at the man who walked inside before turning back to the screen.

"You know I expected that look, and it still gives me chills." Bruce said walking inside, looking around before turning back to Felicity. "Where is everyone?" He waited for a response, but got only silence, so he walked over and dropped in the seat beside her. "I'm sorry, I didn't plan on this, but—"

"What is this?" Felicity asked suddenly turning to the man. "Us. You and me, what are we doing?" Bruce stared at her for a moment, an immediate reply not hitting him at the moment. She let out a sigh before turning back to her computer. "We don't go on dates, and you don't tell me when you're going to take our friend's company from her, so tell what are we to each other?"

"That's a very big question Ms. Smoak." Bruce said and he smiled at the way she scrunched up her face at him using her last name. "I don't know what this is, but what I do know is that I care about you more than I thought I could care for another person. I know that when my life seems like shit, and I have absolutely no idea what my next move is, I think about you and it doesn't seem so bad." Bruce slid the chair closer to her and Felicity turned meeting his eyes. "I know that whenever you and I are in the same room, I count the seconds to when you will let me kiss you. It's been ninety seconds by the way." She didn't want to, but a smile curled at her lips. "So no, I don't know what this is, but I look forward to finding out." Felicity turned back to her computer with a shake of her head.

"Good answer Mr. Wayne." she soon felt Bruce's lips on her cheek and turned once again to meet his eyes.

"Too many seconds had gone by." he replied before looking over her shoulder to the computer. "You guys have any luck finding this guy who likes to blow things up."

"Yeah, we've found an IP address at this shop, Oliver is on his way to check it out, while Katie and John are at the rally as a back up in case things go south."

"This guy doesn't like the financial and business industry, right?" Bruce asked and Felicity simply nodded. "Well then maybe I could head there and make an appearance. Hopefully this guy takes the bait."

"That's awfully nice of you." Felicity replied watching the man stand to his feet. "Be careful."

"Careful is my middle name, Ms. Smoak." Bruce said and the woman rolled her eyes as she turned away from him. "Actually it's Anthony." she looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. "No one else knows that so count yourself lucky." the man chuckled before turning and leaving.

John and Katie sifted through the crowd, keeping their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. They'd been moving around for a while, and neither saw anything that looked like a bomb.

"This is too much area to cover." Katie said glancing over to John. "We should split up."

"I don't think so." John said and Katie just shook her head before turning and walking off. John tried to go after her, but the crowd was a bit thick and he soon lost her.

Vigilance was a lesson all on it's own taught religiously by the demon. Katie soon realized that there were some parts of her time with the league she just wouldn't be able to forget and those lessons were one of them. It's why her eyes moved analyzing everything around, every face she saw, every gesture in hopes that something stands out.

"You want to make a statement." she muttered to herself. "That means you'd kill them all." her eyes continued moving until she noticed something. The speakers. They surrounded the entire plaza and would be the perfect place to store a bomb that would cause the most damage. And so Katie went about her search.

She didn't realize that there were quite a few speakers, and each one she searched were clean. She had reached the last speaker she would search before trying a new angle. It wasn't until she noticed a removable back to the speaker. Removing the piece she soon found what she thinks they were looking for. It was a cellular device attached to the speaker. Katie lifts her eyes back to the crowd in search of John. When she sees him, he's still looking around until he meets her eyes. She waves him over and he rushes to see what she's found. Katie lowers her eyes back to the device when John appears beside her.

"I don't know a lot about bombs, but this doesn't look like something that should be in a speaker." Katie says glancing over to John whose eyes are looking down as well.

"It looks like a trigger." John says before placing a finger to his earpiece. "Yeah, Felicity." he glanced out into the crowd. "We're on the east side and I think Katie may have found the trigger. Alright."

"Felicity's here?" Katie asked and John nodded. "What happened with Oliver?" John simply shrugged before turning back to the device.

"Oliver said that the whole place was ringed with explosives." Felicity said walking over to them. She moved in closer to the device. "And I'm guessing this is the trigger."

"What happened at the shop with Oliver?" Katie asked.

"Our friend Shrapnel got one over on us again. We think he's somewhere here though. Oliver is on his way." Felicity said not tearing her gaze from the device. "He's going to activate it with a cellular transmission."

"Well we don't have to disarm it, just disable it." John says.

"I can do that...I think..." Felicity tilts her head slightly as she looks over the trigger. "I hope."

"At least sound a bit more confident Smoaks." Katie said before looking out into the crowd and then to the stage where Sebastian seemed to be in the middle of his speech. She notices a familiar face on the stage and her eyes go wide. "What the hell is Bruce doing here?"

"Hoping his presence will coax our friend to make an appearance." Felicity mutters as she types along the device.

"Listen, you be careful. He probably put in a safeguard. Tampering with it will set off a deadman's switch." John warns as he watches Felicity cautiously.

"Yeah, so don't die." Katie says bluntly gaining a look from the woman.

"Alright, step back." they all look up to see a man with a gun aimed right at them. They figured from the gun and the phone in his hand, that there standing in front of them was none other than Shrapnel himself. "Or we all know how this ends."

"It doesn't have to." Katie says raising her hands and taking a slight step forward.

"Katie—" John warns, making sure to keep an eye on the man with the gun, but Katie chooses to ignore him.

"I know you think this somehow furthers your cause, but what you're doing doesn't do anything but brings more pain and crime to this city and that is something we could do with out. You're a smart guy, just think about this." Shrapnel stares at her for a moment and Katie noticed the slight twitch of his gun hand and she knew he wasn't used to being this close to the action. "We can help—" Katie takes another step forward which must have startled the man, because he lifted the gun a little more. John suddenly stepped forward, pushing Katie out of the way, just as Shrapnel pulled the trigger, a bullet hitting him square in the shoulder. The moment the shot was fired, all hell broke loose and the crowd erupted in chaos. Katie dropped to the ground beside John, her hand going to place pressure on his bleeding shoulder. "You stupid bastard."

"You're welcome!" John said before lifting his eyes to see Oliver pull up on his bike as Shrapnel tosses a grenade out in to the crowd. Oliver quickly pulls an arrow from his quiver that shoots out hitting the grenade causing it to explode mid air above the crowd. They turn back just as Shrapnel turns and runs off.

"Felicity." Katie says turning to the woman. "Here, place pressure on his shoulder." Katie removes her hands and Felicity replaces them.

"What are you doing?" John asks as Katie stands to her feet.

"Trying to help." Katie replied before turning and running after the man. She came to sliding halt when Oliver's bike slide in front of her. "What are you—"

"Go back to John, now!" his modulated voice growled before speeding off after Shrapnel.

Katie stood there both shocked and dumbfounded. Here she was with this undeniable need to help and yet he just wouldn't let her. She realized right then and there that maybe it was time to come to terms with the fact that she didn't have a place here. She wasn't the doctor and she wasn't the hero. She was the woman that was a walking poison that was going to hurt her friends at some point. It was time to stop pretending to be something she wasn't. It was time for her to just give up. And that's what she did.

She walked away.


	15. Test No. 2

**Chapter 15**

**Test No. 2**

_"What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, _ _is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. _ _We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it."_

_-Jiddu Krishnamurti_

* * *

Oliver's ears were suddenly filled with an incessant ticking that only he could hear. Everything had happened so fast, and now it would seem time was standing still and yet it wasn't at the same time. The ticking reminded him of that. His eyes glazed over to one of the monitors that was playing a news feed of Shrapnel's arrest. Oliver should be happy, relieved that there is one less evil doer on the streets and yet he stands with his arms folded over his chest as he waits for Felicity to stop her typing.

"Lets all just think a little rationally here." John says breaking the silence. "I mean you said she was upset that you told her to back off Shrapnel. What if she's just off somewhere blowing off some steam?"

"Well she's not answering her phone, and her phone is off so I just can't track the GPS." Felicity said still typing away.

"Can't you access her phone remotely and just turn the GPS back on?" Oliver asked and both Felicity and John turn him, not expecting the suggestion. Oliver Queen wasn't the most tech savvy person they knew, but sometimes he surprised them.

"I could, but we don't even know if anything is truly wrong." Felicity replied standing to her feet. "She's upset and maybe she just doesn't want to be reachable. She has that right, doesn't she?"

"She does not have that right when there are people, highly trained, dangerous people after her. " Oliver practically growled trying to ignore that ticking. "Felicity, just do it and if she's upset, I'll deal with it." Felicity looked at the man unsure, but turned and sat back in front of her computer. The room once again fell into silence as John and Oliver listened to the clicking of Felicity's fingers against the keys of her computer. Soon the door of the basement swung open and they turned to see Bruce holding an ice pack to his head.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" Felicity asked standing to her feet and going over to him.

"I'm fine, I just got knocked around in the craziness that happened today at the rally." Bruce said glancing between the serious faces. "Nobody in this room looks like they just put away another bad guy."

"Felicity—" Oliver sighed and the woman simply nodded before going back to her computer.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked looking over to Oliver who looked way more tense then usual. He let his eyes glance around the lair before they narrowed back to Oliver. "Where's Robins?" Oliver simply turned to him with annoyed look that seemed to be answer enough for the mogul. "Felicity, you need to check all the airports, train stations, bus—"

"I don't have to." Felicity spoke staring at her computer. "She's in Starling." she looks over her shoulder to Oliver. "Apparently at the Starling City Plaza Hotel. I guess she just needed some time to herself." Oliver turned away for a moment, before a slight growl escaped his lips. He turned, grabbing his jacket and keys before storming out. "I thought this would be a good thing."

"It probably would be if Lex Luthor also wasn't staying at the Plaza." Bruce muttered his brow furring at a sudden thought. "She wouldn't."

"Who wouldn't what?" Felicity asked turning to Bruce before standing to her feet and going over to check out his head.

"I just hope Robins isn't doing what I think she's doing?"

Katie was actually shocked that when she walked up to the front desk of the Plaza, gave them a name, they turned around and gave her a room number. It verified her suspicions that the man was actually waiting for this moment. The moment where she would show up at his door. It wasn't until she found herself standing there, looking at the pale door, did she once again doubt if this was the right choice.

_"You don't go in there, then they're dead."_ came the voice of her tormentor inside her head, but she chose not to acknowledge him. The doubt was actually becoming too much before Katie grabbed the handle of her suit case and prepared to leave. In that moment, the door to the room finally opened and there he stood, a smile fixed on his face.

"Bear."

"Lexie." Katie greeted dryly before glancing down both ends of the hallway. "Can I come in?" the man simply backed up to let her inside.

"Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but after our run in yesterday at the club, I assumed this is the last place you would show up unexpected." Lex said watching as Katie walks over to the window, and peeks out through the curtains. "Is everything alright?"

"You talk too much." Katie said suddenly turning to the man. "Can you just stop talking. This will be over soon."

"What will be over soon?" Lex asked curiously. Katie simply walks back over to look out the window.

"I think everything." Katie muttered. She glanced over to him, before walking over to the bathroom.

"You know I don't know what this is, but I think maybe you came here so we could talk!" Lex called through the door. "I mean when you think about it, we ended before we even started."

"No, we ended when you started calling out other women name's in your sleep!" Katie called back to him and Lex's face morphed into confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lana Lang!" Katie called back. "I don't know who she is, but she filled your dreams the majority of the nights I spent with you. So maybe it's her you should be visiting trying to figure out where you went wrong." Lex didn't know what to say in that moment, because he doesn't doubt what she saying is true.

"I didn't—"

"You were right." Katie interrupting him. "It was Oliver. It's always Oliver and when we got together, I just wanted something to make me forget him, but it didn't and I'm sorry because maybe I didn't give us a fair shot. Right now none of it matters, because it's over and done."

"Then why are you here?" Lex asked when there was a sudden knock at his door. He glanced over in slight suspicion. When Katie arrived, the front desk had called to inform him of her arrival.

"Open the door!" Katie called to him and Lex stood there for a moment before walking over to the door and looking out through the peep hole.

"It's—"

"I know, just open it!" Katie replied and Lex still confused pulls open the door and looks up into very dark, angry eyes.

"Oliver, it's kind of late for visits, don't you think?" Lex asks, noticing Oliver's eyes glancing behind him in the room. "You looking for something?" Oliver's darkened glare draws back onto the man. Suddenly the door to the bathroom swings open and both men look back.

"Lexie, whose at the—" Oliver's eyes go to Katie whose standing there with a towel wrapped around her body, and seemingly nothing else. Their eyes meet and she can literally see his heart breaking. "Oliver—" he doesn't give her a chance to speak, or come up with an excuse before he turns and leave. Lex still stands there in confusion before he closes the door and turns back to Katie.

"What the hell was that?" he asks. Katie stands there for a few moments, her eyes on that door trying to will the tears that threaten to fall to just hold on just a while longer. "Katie, what—" she turns her eyes to him before turning and walking back into the bathroom. When she walks back out, she's dressed differently. She's now wearing dark jeans with a black hoodie, and a baseball cap over head. She wordlessly walks over and grabs the handle of her suitcase before heading for the door, only for Lex to move to block her.

"Move." she warns, not even looking to his eyes.

"You wanted him to see that. Wanted him to think that something happened here, when it didn't. Why?"

"It's none of your business." she said with a shake of her head before trying to side step him, only for him to move to once again block her.

"What are you playing at here, huh? You love him, I know you love him, so why would you do that?" Katie finally lifts her eyes to meet his eyes.

"Because I love him." she mutters before finally making it around the man out the door.

Oliver storms through the door of the mansion, heading straight for the living room where he stops at the bar to pour himself a much needed stiff drink. It isn't until he brings the glass to his lips does he notice that he's not alone. His hand reaches out for a near by fire poker.

"You should've noticed my presence the moment you walked through the door." Bruce says and Oliver lets out annoyed sigh before turning to spot the man sitting on his couch. He glances around before turning to Oliver with a shake of his head. "Please tell me you didn't fall for it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm seriously not in the mood. Leave, now." Oliver orders turning back to his drink and taking a sip.

"So what was it, you showed up and they were both half naked?" Bruce asked and Oliver looked over to him. "No, she wouldn't go that far. She'd need to make it look real, so maybe a hotel robe, or a towel."

"Bruce—"

"How many times have you tracked Katie using the GPS of her phone?" Bruce asked and Oliver let out a huff before turning and pouring himself another drink. "Think about it Oliver. She's disappeared, and you've found her. She's aware that Felicity can find her, so tell me why would she go to Lex's hotel room where she knows you'll show up." Oliver lifts his head slightly and thinks it over for a few moments before turning to Bruce. "She needed you right here. Drinking your sorrows away, sad angry, hating her, not wanting anything to do with her. You know what else you're doing?" Bruce takes a slight step forward. "You're not looking for her anymore and that's all she wants. To disappear without anyone looking for her. " Oliver turns his back to the man as he finally lets himself really think about the turn of events. He still sees Katie standing there, in that towel and his heart breaks, but for a moment he thinks he can see hers break as well.

"She's running Oliver." Oliver sits the glass down and turns back to Bruce. "As much as I would love it if she were coming back to Gotham with me, her out there with no one watching her back is far worse. I would rather her stick here than that."

"I have to call Felicity." Oliver says about to head for the door, when suddenly his phone rings.

"Felicity's already on it." Bruce says as Oliver looks down to his phone to see the woman's number.

Katie stands in the practically empty bus station staring up to the bus schedule. She'd bought a one way ticket to Coast City since it was the earliest bus leaving out. It was still about forty five minutes away, leaving Katie to have to spend her time waiting. She walked over and took a seat, closing her eyes and trying not to keep seeing that look on Oliver's face. She has to keep telling herself that this is what is best for everyone and that this decision was necessary. She didn't expect the sudden prick on the side of her neck and soon her eyes closed and they seemed harder to keep open and before she knows it, she's asleep and taken back to a time she wants so badly to forget.

_The air was stale as Katie sat in the familiar meeting room of ARGUS. She hadn't been here since she first arrived and told they were going to be keeping her held captive. Not in those words, but that's what she heard. She'd been plucked from her room early and placed in this room, an agent stood at the door watching her with obvious distrust. _

_"So what's your name?" Katie asked leaning back in her chair as she eyes the agent. "I've seen dozens of you guys and no one ever introduces themselves." the man doesn't reply and so Katie continues to talk. "You look like a Steve, is your name Steve?" there was a single knock to the door, and the agent quickly turned and opened the door. Soon Lyla, along with Agent Waller walked inside. _

_"You can go." Waller said barely glancing to Katie's guard who only nodded before moving to leave. _

_"Bye Steve!" Katie called to the retreating man before the door was closed. She looked between Lyla and Waller who chose to stand instead of sit. "Is this the meeting where you tell me that this just isn't working out, and that you're sending me home?" _

_"Not exactly." Lyla said glancing over to Waller who had a sudden smirk on her face as she looked to Katie. "Ma'am." _

_"Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. It's in every news outlet around the world." Waller said and she noticed Katie turn her head with a smile. _

_Bruce's whereabouts was one of Katie's biggest worries since escaping Ra's fortress. The last thing she remembers is him being attacked and she was afraid that he didn't make it. _

_"We want you to visit him." Waller said and Katie turned to her with confusion. "We would like to know how he was able to escape?" Katie looked at the woman for a moment before simply shaking her head._

_"The answer is no. If Bruce did escape, then the demon may still be out there looking for him or me. Us together is dangerous." Katie stood to her feet and walked around the table toward the door. _

_"It would be if my intel didn't tell me that Ra's Al Ghul was dead." Waller spoke and Katie stopped in her steps. Both Waller and Lyla look over to the woman whose back is still toward them. "We just need the details." They waited for Katie to reply and after a moment they assumed she wouldn't until she finally turned to them and nodded. _

_"Alright, I'll do it." Katie said looking between the woman. "Just let me know when we're leaving." and with that the woman turned and left. _

Katie's eyes blinked open from the dream and the first thing that came into focus made her believe that she was still dreaming. There sitting across from her was a man sitting cross legged wearing one of those creepy rabbit masks. She looked around the bus station to see that the place was completely void of any one else. Katie quickly stood to her feet, but didn't move an inch when the man suddenly pulled out his gun and aimed it to her.

"Please sit down love." the man said with a distinctive British accent. Katie only glared as she lowered herself back into her seat. "I know you have a lot of questions like who am I, where did everyone go—"

"Why the rabbit mask?" Katie interrupted and she heard a dry chuckle escape the man's mouth.

"We were in a hurry and it was cheap." the man replied.

"What is this?"

"You were trying to leave." the man said with a slight shake of his head. "You leaving is the last thing my boss wants."

"Who is your boss?"

"That's not how this game is played love." the man replied uncrossing his legs and sliding up in his seat causing Katie to sit a little straighter. "You do not leave Starling City or a storm of trouble is going to come your way." Katie chuckled before sliding forward in her seat as well and meeting the beady eyes of the mask.

"A storm of trouble is already headed my way, so tell your boss or whoever that they can kiss my ass." Katie said before standing to her feet. "I'm getting on that bus and I'm getting as far away from this city as possible." She turned and walked away wondering if the masked man was really going to make her leaving that easy. It wasn't until she felt a prick in the back of her thigh did she get her answer. Katie stopped walking and turned her head to see the dart sticking from her leg before lifting her eyes to the masked man.

"You shouldn't worry about Ra's Al Ghul." said the man, but Katie could barely focus as it seemed everything was starting to blur. "You're going to be ready to face him. As long as you pass your tests." those were the last words Katie heard before everything around her just disappeared.

Oliver stormed into the foundry after Felicity's call. He spotted the woman in the same spot he'd left her, in front of her computer.

"Felicity—"

"Oliver I still haven't found anything. She hasn't used her credit cards, so if she is making a run for the boarder then she's wised up and used cash."

"What about the GPS in her phone?" Oliver asked and Felicity shook her head.

"I can't access it. She must've removed the battery." Felicity replied still typing away.

"What's going on?" John asked looking to Oliver who looked freaked out. Oliver glanced over to John, but didn't say anything. "She's running and she thought the whole you finding her with Lex Luthor would cause you not to go looking for her."

"It was a stupid plan!" Came the voice of Bruce who came down the stairs of the basement. "She thinks she's protecting Oliver." Bruce walked over glancing between Felicity and John. "Hell maybe she believes she's protecting all of you by leaving. What have you found Felicity?"

"One more person asks me that I'm going to scream." the woman growled as she continued typing. "She's been here, so she knows what she has to do to hide from me. She's keeping everything low tech. No cards, no phone, so I have to dig a little deeper."

"I think I can help with that." Bruce said removing his jacket and pulling up a chair to the monitor next to Felicity and typing away. "Wayne Enterprises has been developing a program that is still being tweaked, but given some minimal perimeters and—"

"What are you talking about?" Oliver interrupted the man's rambling.

Felicity rolled her chair closer to the man and watched what he was doing and her eyes widened at some of the code he was entering.

"Are you supposed to have access to this?" Felicity asked glancing over to the man.

"Well there's also some red tape that we need to get through." Bruce said smirking over to the woman.

"Does someone want to tell us what's—" Oliver took a step forward to look over Bruce's shoulder to the computer when he saw a picture of Katie and it seemed the program was searching through video footage to match her face.

"This program is searching security footage, traffic cameras, ATM cameras, anything that is accessed on Starling's wireless network." Bruce said when his fingers suddenly stopped. "The program has it's limitations which is why I can only search for her in Starling."

"Now what?" Oliver asked watching the constant movement of the screen as the program seemed to move over the faces of people and then moving to the next image.

"Now we wait until it finds her." Bruce said sitting back in his seat. Oliver growls before turning and storming away.

"Oliver doesn't like the word wait." Felicity whispered over to Bruce who glanced over to her with a shrug. She looked back over to her computer to see an alert pop up. "And maybe we won't have to." Felicity begins typing away when suddenly a news feed appears.

_"The police are asking for any information anyone may have on suspects who entered Starling Transit and forced people out at gun point. At this point, SCPD is on the scene but have not found any clues as to who these men were." _

"Felicity—"

"I'm already on it." the woman said her fingers picking up speed once again already anticipating Oliver's request. Oliver walks over to see what she's doing. It isn't until security footage from the bus station comes on, does he figure it out. His eyes go wide when he sees Katie standing there in the bus station before walking over and taking a seat. She seems to just sit there staring at nothing, before a man sits behind her. The camera doesn't quite catch his face, but it does show him reach over his shoulder, before Katie's head suddenly drops to her chest. Immediately after, the security footage cuts out.

"Felicity what's happening?!" Oliver asks slight panic in his voice.

"There's nothing else." Felicity replied, her fingers moving rapidly. "Someone must've hacked the the security footage."

"Well can't you unhack it!" he snapped and Bruce stood to his feet and moved the man back.

"You need to calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down, I just saw someone—" his eyes move back over to the monitor. "She could be dead."

"She's not dead." Bruce replied and Oliver turned his glare to the man.

"And how do you know?"

"Because Ra's wouldn't allow it." Bruce said and Oliver's eyes darkened even more. "Despite what we all may want to believe, his eyes are on her, he just hasn't made a move yet. He doesn't want to kill her and from that night on the roof in Metropolis, I figure he doesn't want anyone else to kill her either."

"That doesn't reassure me."

"It should." Bruce said looking over his computer to his program that was still running. "It means she's still alive, and that means she's still fighting."

_Katie stood in front of the mirror in her tiny bathroom going over the plan in her head. When she heard Waller's plan for her to see Bruce, she immediately thought the idea was crazy. Then she got another idea. Them wanting her to see Bruce, meant they would have to let her leave this place and then she would have her chance to escape. There was a knock at her door and she walked from the bathroom to pull it open. She found Lyla standing there, with a very angry looking agent behind her. _

_"Who's your friend?" Katie asked glancing to the man. _

_"He's here to give you a gift." Lyla replied and the man held up a large clunky object. _

_"Is that an ankle monitor?" Katie asked and Lyla smiled with a nod as she and the agent walked into Katie's room. _

_"Have a seat so he can put it on and explain how it works." Lyla replied. Katie let out a sigh before turning and walking over to sit. She looked down as the man began fastening the monitor and just knew that her plan was going to have to be tweaked. This was not going to stop her. _

"Doctor, I would wake up now if I were you." the moment Katie heard the familiar British voice, her eyes snapped open. She was lying on a hard, dusty, wooden floor. She jumped to her feet, and was suddenly hit with a dizzy spell, making her sway slightly. "Good, you're up," Katie's eyes searched for the man, but she didn't see him, What she did see was a small speaker on a desk beside a gun. "Your attempting to leave Starling was definitely not a good idea, but there is a plus side to everything. We finally got you away from Mr. Queen for long enough to once again test your abilities."

"Who are you!" Katie snapped.

"I would love to get into introductions with you, but there are three men in this building whose sole purpose is to kill you." Katie's face scrunched into a confusion.

"Why?"

"Well, because we told them we'd give them a lot of money if they did. Don't worry, we don't want to give it to them, so we're rooting for you on this one. We don't have much time, one of our guys is about to walk up to the door he thinks he hears a sexy British voice coming from. I would grab the gun." Katie hesitated for a moment, when she heard a doorknob turn and after that there was no more thinking.

Oliver soon retreated to the empty club above. Night was gone, and now it was morning. The waiting felt like it was killing him. He found himself pacing back and forth, racking his brain for a solution to finding Katie. He still hates that he fell for her trick. After everything that has happened, her being with Luthor just didn't make sense. He should've asked more questions, or done something. He just walked away and that's exactly what she wanted.

"What are you doing here?" a voice asked snapping Oliver from his thoughts. He stopped and turned to see his sister.

"I uh, just came in to see how things were going you know." Oliver lied and from the look on Thea's face he could tell it wasn't a good one.

"You're hiding from Twinkie, aren't you?" Thea asked and Oliver shook his head.

"Actually the opposite." Oliver replied and Thea's brow furrowed in even more confusion. "We sort of got into a fight and then she left and now I don't know where she is."

"You try calling her?" Thea asked taking out her own cell phone and Oliver nodded. "Why don't I try, maybe she'll answer." Thea dialed the number and brought the phone to her ear only to hear the immediate voice mail. "Must be off, it didn't even ring." Thea met her brother's worried eyes. "Look I'm sure she's fine, she's probably just making you suffer a little bit. What did you do anyway?"

"I'm still not sure." Oliver muttered walking over to take a seat at the bar. "I thought things were good, I thought we were great and then things just changed." Thea walked over to take the seat next to him.

"That's what happens in relationships sometimes."Thea says turning away slightly. Oliver notices a slight look on her face.

"Everything alright with you and Roy."

"Yeah, I guess. I think he's hiding something from me and just won't tell me what it is." Thea said with a slight shake of her head. "I think it's big." she looked back over to her brother and just shook her head. "Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe we both are." she stood from the stool and reached over the bar and pull up some keys. "I was looking all over for these things." she turned back to her brother and gave him a smile. "Twinkie will call you and then you two will be fine."

"Thanks Speedy." Oliver replied placing a kiss on the top of his sister's head before watching her turn and walk out of the bar. Oliver spun around and looked up to the walls that were lined with bottles of alcohol and a smile crept to his face at a sudden memory.

_Oliver had placed himself strategically a couple of feet from the bar, so the moment his parents turned their backs, he would sneak over. The problem was his dad was watching him like a hawk all night. He glanced over to Tommy who was still chatting up some girl he'd met earlier. His eyes went back to his parents, and he almost jumped for joy when he saw their backs to him. He was just about to rush over to bar, but his eyes went to the door and he stopped. There she was. The girl he hadn't seen for the entire length of spring break. A smile came to his lips when she met his eyes. She said something to her parents before walking over to him. _

_"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Oliver said when Katie walked over to him. "Where have you been?" _

_"Visiting relatives in Gotham." Katie replied walking over to the bar. "Diet coke please." _

_"That's a boring drink." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. _

_"I'm sorry, I still haven't jumped on the underage drinking train. I guess that's why we're only secret friends, huh?" Katie said with a shake of her head before turning to the bartender who handed her the soda. "Thanks." she walked off once again and Oliver followed after her. _

_"I told you, we're not secret friends. I mean why do we have to tell people we like to hang out with each other?" Oliver asked and Katie just rolled her eyes because this wasn't the first time they've had this conversation. "God this party blows." Katie gave a snort as she looked out to the crowd of the same people that were always at this charity functions. She hated coming to these things, but her parents always made her come. _

_"We could play a game?" Katie suggests with a quirked brow as she turned to Oliver who smirked at the mischievous look in her eyes. _

_"I'm listening." he replied as they both turned back to the crowd. _

_"Lets guess what the fuddies do behind closed doors." Katie replied glancing around the crowd before seeing a familiar face. "Oh, Mr. Hannigan." Oliver followed her eyes. to the short, chubby man who always wore terrible toupees. "He looks like he collects rocks." they both laughed as they watched the man. _

_"No, he collects women's underwear." Oliver said and Katie's laugh was louder than she wanted, and she had to turn away from the looks they were getting. "Oh, I got one. Mrs. Jones." Katie looked over to see the older, gray haired woman who seemed to be putting food in her purse. _

_"Everyone knows she steals food from these things. Hell for the amount they charge for the dinners here, I'm surprise everyone isn't stealing the food." Katie replied watching the woman stuffing shrimp in her purse. _

_"Yeah, I know that, but what if she doesn't eat them when she gets home, what if she has this room that's just filled with all the food she's stolen." Oliver says laughing. _

_"Like a shrine, or some freaky museum." Katie says laughing as well. "She has them separated by the events she got them from and just stares at them." They try to contain their laughter, but it doesn't come easy. After they calm down they begin their search for their next victim. "What about Mr. Paulson—" Katie looks over to Oliver whose eyes are on something else. She follows his gaze, and visibly deflates. "Or what about Laurel Lance. She probably collect boogers or something right?" Oliver nudges her shoulder before looking to her. "Let me guess, you would rather hang with your girlfriend than your secret friend." _

_"Twinkie, you're not—" _

_"Just go, I'm use to it by now." she sighed before turning and walking off. Oliver stood there for a moment, watching her sift through the crowd. She was right, he did hide their friendship, and sometimes he felt like a horrible person because of it, and sometimes he just loved having her to himself without any outside input or opinion from anyone. He never understood why he felt that way, or maybe he did. _

Oliver heard footsteps and turned jumping to his feet.

"They found something." he stated when he saw John. He was already headed back to the basement, but John moved to block him.

"No, not yet. I just came to see how you're doing."

"How do you think I'm doing Dig? I've gone from searching for a man who likes blowing up the city, to searching for my girlfriend who tried to make believe that she cheated on me and then was kidnapped when she tried to leave Starling." Oliver says before turning and walking off.

"If it's any consolation, I don't think you should be that worried. I mean Katie seems to be someone who can find a way out of a bad situation." John says. "She's like you in that way." Oliver stops and turns back to his friend.

"Why would she do it? I knew she was scared, and I knew she wanted to protect me, but I thought I was getting through to her. Something happened, something changed." Oliver said. He noticed the way John turned his head and he quirked a brow. "What?"

"I'm not even sure this has anything to do with anything." John says turning back to Oliver. "But a couple of nights ago, you went out to look for any clues on the masked man down in Crescent Circle, and Katie may have found the ring in the pocket of your clothes you'd left here." Oliver stares at the man silently for a couple of moments and John sighs. "She told me not to say anything and—"

"And you said nothing!" Oliver said with a shake of his head. "I mean it was in my pocket, what was she doing looking through my things?"

"I don't know, but I don't know a lot, like why the hell you carry the damn thing, or leave it in your pockets if you don't plan on asking her to marry you."

"I don't know, alright!" Oliver snapped. "Does that make you happy?" he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. "I just see this box and I know the ring inside is going on her finger. I don't know when, but I know that it will happen and I don't want to miss that moment its supposed to happen." Oliver turned back to John and he just shook his head. "You think I'm crazy."

"I think you really love this girl." was John's chosen reply and Oliver turned back to him. They soon heard high heeled feet and both tuned to see Felicity rushing into the bar.

"Felicity please tell me you've found her." Oliver says taking a step toward the woman.

"Not yet, but I may have gotten a clue on who the guy from the bus station is." the woman replied. They all returned to the basement, where they huddled over Felicity's shoulder. "The station's security cameras are horrible, but I'm me so I can usually find a lemon to make lemonade." The woman went to typing. "I have been looking at this video endlessly and then I noticed something." she stopped at a specific part of the video. "Do you see that, right there?" she pointed to a guy and girl standing side by side taking a picture. Once the picture is taken, a woman hands the man her cell phone.

"What does that couple have to do with anything?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing, but that picture they just took would give us a clear picture of our mystery guy."

"So you're suggesting we track down some random couple, ask for their phone so we can go through their pictures?" John asked and Felicity sent him a glare.

"No, we won't have to ask them anything. You see I used Bruce's little program to identify the couple and I found them on our favorite social networking site." Felicity typed away until the picture popped up and then she zoomed in on the man's face. "And this is why I make the big bucks. Well not really, but—" she glanced over her shoulder to Oliver whose eyes were fixed on the screen. "Oliver?" they all looked over to him.

"Do you know him Oliver?" John asked.

"He's our prankster kidnapper." Oliver said standing a bit straighter.

"You mean the creepy guy who kidnapped you and Katie from your date, only to disappear?"Felicity asked turning back to the computer.

"I'm sorry, I'm lost." Bruce said looking between the three. "When were Oliver and Katie kidnapped?"

Katie's back presses uncomfortably behind the door of the random room she'd just ran into to avoid capture. The voice on the machine was right and the moment the door opened, it would seem all the lessons she wished she could forget seemed to take over. When she was finally able to breathe again, she was standing over the lifeless body of one the men sent to kill her. She grabbed his gun and tucked it her pants before searching for a phone, but he didn't have one. That's when she ran out into the dark, dusty hall and heard impending footsteps. She ducked into this room, and waited for the footsteps to pass.

Her eyes closed when she heard the heavy footsteps just right outside the door. She wanted to laugh at how amateur these guys were. The floor boards moved slightly and she knew he was standing right in front of the door. She quietly took a couple of steps forward before turning her gun and aiming it at the door. Soon the door was pushed open and her eyes met the darkened eyes of the assassin meant to kill her.

"There you are." his deep husky voice said, his gun aimed at her. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Who hired you?" Katie asked, keeping her gun firmly aimed at the man.

"Does it matter, you're dead and I'll be getting a hefty pay day because of it." he replied taking a slight step forward. "Put that gun down before you hurt yourself there princess." Katie let out a snort, before lowering her gun and shooting the man right in the knee. He dropped to the ground dropping on his good knee, grunting in pain. He suddenly pulled the trigger, missing Katie who rose her gun once again and shot the man in the chest. He fell back on his back, gasping for air through the blood that was now spewing from his mouth. Katie walked over and kicked his gun from his hand before looking down to him.

"The bullet probably hit lung, that's why it's hard for you to breathe right now. I'm a doctor, I know exactly what to do to keep you alive enough to get you to a hospital." Katie said before bending over to bring herself closer to the man's face. "Tell me who hired you." The man opened his mouth to speak, but before a semblance of a word could come out gun shots rang through the room, hitting him right in the chest. Katie lifted her head to see another man holding the now smoking gun. She lifted her own gun to shoot him, but he pulled the trigger once again, hitting her right in the hand and causing her to drop the gun.

"Sorry, sweet heart, the rules were pretty cut and dry." he said walking in closer. Katie stepped back, keeping her hands up and visible. "I found the other guy in the other room and now—" his eyes went to the lifeless body on the floor. "You saved me a lot of trouble, because I was going to kill whoever I found first, them or you—" he looked back over to her with a wide smile. "You know they didn't tell us much about you. I only know what I've seen on tv. The doctor who saved the Glades."

"And you still want to kill me."

"This isn't personal, this is business and I am in the business of killing people." he said just as Katie's back hit a wall, stopping her from backing away. "You're just a payday for me. Don't worry, I'll make it—" Katie hand quickly reached behind her for the gun tucked in her pants before turning it to the man. They both pulled the trigger at the same time, but only one person would live to tell the tale.

The basement of the foundry once again silent as they all waited for answers to questions that needed to be answered soon.

"I'm not doing this anymore!" Oliver said angrily before storming over to the display case that held his hood. "The more time that passes, the greater the chance that we don't get her back."

"Where are you gonna go?"John asks walking over to the man. "These guys were clean, and have left no trail. You can't just go out there shooting arrows at the wind."

"Then what do I do Dig, huh?! I can't wait here when she's probably out there being hurt." Oliver replied when the sudden sound of a phone ringing turned their attention to Bruce who looked down to an unfamiliar number. He answered and brought his phone to his ear.

"This is Bruce." was all he said before standing to his feet and grabbing his jacket. "Alright." he ended the call before turning to Felicity. "I need you to track the last call that just came to my phone and then I need you to text me the location."Bruce didn't wait for a reply before turning and heading for the stairs, but he didn't expect Oliver to move in front of him to block. "I'm gonna need you to move before I move you."

"Tell me who was on the phone." Oliver demanded, but Bruce simply gave him a look that was all the answer he needed. "Where is she?"

"She doesn't know. She has a phone, she called and wants me to come get her, now if you would—" Bruce once again tried to side step him, but Oliver wasn't letting up. "You're annoying me right now Oliver, and I'm in no mood to be annoyed right now." Oliver wasn't standing down and honestly Bruce didn't think he would. "She asked me to come alone."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure she has her reasons, now move!" Bruce snapped which didn't seem to faze Oliver in the slightest.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you." Oliver said and Bruce wanted to argue, but he neither had the time or patience to fight a losing battle.

"Fine." Bruce muttered before finally getting around the man, who wasn't too far behind.

Felicity and John turned to each other once Oliver and Bruce were gone, both unsure what they were supposed to do.

"I guess we're waiting here." Felicity sighed before turning and beginning her trace of the cell phone.

Once Felicity texted him the coordinates of where the call came from, it didn't take Bruce and Oliver long before they arrived in front of very old building that sat secluded, just on the outskirts of the city. Both men stepped from the car, their eyes scanning the area for any possible threats that could still be lingering.

"What did she say on the phone?" Oliver asked over to Bruce as they moved cautiously toward the building.

"Find me." Bruce muttered as they finally reached the door. They saw the condemned sign on the door and both just shared a look before stepping inside. Bruce stopped and looked back to Oliver. "You should probably let me find her." Oliver shook off the idea before moving around the man in search of Katie. They both moved quietly, letting their senses lead them.

"Wait."Oliver said suddenly stopping. He turned to Bruce. "Did you hear that?" both men stood in silence when they hear the barely audible noise come from down the hall. They found themselves standing in front of door. They turned to each other with a nod before Bruce reached forward and pushed open the door. Neither expected the sight that appeared in front of them. Two men lying on the ground, apparently dead. Their eyes were drawn to the woman sitting on the floor, completely covered in blood, as she held a palm to her bleeding shoulder, with her bloody hand. She was rocking back and forth, her eyes closed and muttering something under her breath. It was Bruce who was pulled from his shock first and quickly ran over, kneeling in front of her to check her out.

"Hey, Robins, I'm here." Bruce said and Katie opened her eyes. "Hey—" he moved her hand from her shoulder to see the damage. "Looks like it went through." he turned back to her eyes looking over his shoulder. He turned to see that it was Oliver who'd caught her attention. He was still standing there, looking at her like he didn't know who she was. "I think I know why she didn't want me to bring you." he turned back to Katie. "Alright, let's get you out of here."

"That would be very wise of you Mr. Wayne." A British voice spoke and they all searched for a source, which they found in the form of an overhead speaker. "Now that you and Mr. Queen are here to take our dear Ms. Robins home, we can begin the clean up process."

"You bastard, I will find you and—"

"Oh, Mr. Queen, I hope you haven't misunderstood our motives. My boss wants one thing and one thing only and Ms. Robins has given that to him. You won't have to worry about us unless it is absolutely necessary. Now, time is of the essence. This building is set to explode in sixty seconds, so if I were you—"

"Alright, get up Robins." Bruce said pulling the woman to her feet, but Oliver quickly moved around him and hoisted the woman into his arms before quickly carrying her with him. They all quickly got into the car, and sped off, just as the building behind them exploded just as they were warned it would.

It was decided that it would be best to just take Katie home. So after stitching up her shoulder and bandaging her hand, both Oliver and Bruce waited downstairs in the kitchen while Katie showered. She hadn't spoken a word since they found her and they weren't sure what that could mean.

Katie stood in her bathroom, and stared at herself completely covered in blood that both belonged to her and men who were supposed to kill her. In this moment, it was uncanny how this moment seemed so reminiscent of her time in Nanda Parbat. She'd leave so many training sessions covered in the blood of her opponents, but she never had this moment. The moment where she would catch sight of her reflection and she had to admit for the first time in a very long time, the person staring back at her didn't seem like a stranger.

_"No mask."_ came from the voice inside her head that always cut her down at the worst moments. _"That's the monster and he caught a glimpse of it."_ she glanced over her shoulder to see the tormentor that seems will never leave her. "You can't love a monster, maybe he's realizing that." Katie closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before walking over to the shower.

_Katie stood in front of the door, that until this point she has never been able open and now it was finally open. She glanced over to Lyla who looked over to her with a quirked brow before nudging her head toward the door._

_"Go." Lyla ordered and Katie smirked as she turned and finally walked from her prison. She wasn't a fool, knew she wasn't truly free, but she was that much closer._

Bruce looked down to the mug of coffee that was in front of him, but he had yet to take a sip. He glanced over to Oliver who stood leaning against the counter, his eyes on the door waiting for Katie to come down.

"You looked at her like she had 2 heads." Bruce said breaking the silence Oliver thought they were both fine with keeping. Oliver shook his head before turning away from the man to walk over to pour himself some more coffee. "That's why she didn't want you there. She didn't want to see you look at her like that."

"Well I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting to walk in there and see—" it was an image he doesn't think he'll forget anytime soon. It was the moment he realized that Twinkie, his Twinkie, really wasn't the person he thought she was. Oliver turned back to the man who stood on the other side of the counter. "That wasn't her, that wasn't the woman I—"

"Yes it was." Bruce interrupted trying to keep his voice low. "That woman we just saw was the product of years of torture and abuse, but she's also the woman who has the worse sense of humor of anyone I've met. She's the woman who can't cook for the life of her. She's the woman with the biggest heart either one of us has known. That's who she is and that's how you treat her because if you let her go again, I promise you that you will see a very different side of me Oliver." The door to the kitchen pushed open and both me turned to see Katie, now freshly showered and changed into a pair of pajama pants and an over sized shirt.

"How do you feel Robins?" Bruce asked and Katie looks over to him and shrugs.

"Like I've been kidnapped, dropped in some random building, hunted by three of the worse hit men ever before being shot in the shoulder." Katie says before walking over to her freezer and pulling out a tub of ice cream. "This has been calling my name all day." she grabs a spoon and begins eating, both men still standing there staring at her. She stops eating her ice cream and lifts her eyes to them. "The last thing I need is to be watched like a ticking time bomb."

"Bruce." Oliver says looking over to the man. Bruce meets his eyes and it's clear he doesn't want to, but he lets out a sigh before looking back to Katie.

"I'm going to see you later Robins." Bruce walks over and places a kiss on the top of her head before turning and leaving.

Once Bruce was gone, Katie refused to even look at Oliver. The truth was she doesn't even think she has it in her to look at him after the hotel. He walks over and takes a seat at the table across from her, his eyes on her and she can feel them. When she realizes that there is no point in dragging out the inevitable, she finally meets his eyes.

"I hate when you do that." she says dropping her spoon in the container. "When you do that staring thing instead of just saying what's on your mind." he still doesn't say anything and Katie takes a long deep breath. "Ask me." still nothing. "Damnit Oliver, ask me!"

"Did you sleep with Lex Luthor?" Oliver finally asked and Katie looked at him for a moment and she wanted to laugh, because hearing it out loud was just too crazy. Then she wanted to cry because to hear him ask her that was just too painful.

"No." she said with a shake of her head.

"It was a trick, so I would hate you and then you could disappear." That was a statement, which Katie believed meant he already knew the answer to the first question.

"Well it all blew up in my face, didn't it?" she muttered standing to her feet and putting her ice cream back in the freeze. "Apparently I can't leave." she looked over to Oliver. "So me running from this just isn't an option."

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that we can handle this. You and me, John, Felicity, and maybe even Bruce." Oliver says standing to his feet and walking over to her. "We're really good at what we do. We will stop Ra's and we won't let him get anywhere near you."

"Why are you here?" Katie asked suddenly. "What I did, a trick or not was hurtful. It was—" she suddenly remembered that look in his eyes and she had to turn away. "It was really mean, and—" suddenly Oliver's hands came to cup her face, bringing her eyes to his.

"Today, I've never been so scared in my life. I thought I lost you and that is not a feeling I like having." he dropped his forehead to rest against hers. "So from this point on we're going to be honest, and we're going to stick together. Nothing else matters." he brought his lips to hers in a kiss that was filled with the passion and the promise of everyone of his words. When they pulled apart there was small smile on Katie's lips.

"This day has been so long and serious, and right now I would love to just sit and watch mindless reality shows, c'mon." Katie said before walking around him toward the door.

"Wait." Oliver said and she turned back to him. "I think now is a good time to start with the honesty." Oliver reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box that seemed to be weighing his pocket down lately. A gasp escaped Katie's mouth as Oliver place the box on the counter.

"Oliver—"

"Just let me say this." Oliver said taking a deep breath. "John told me you found this and I know it probably freaked you out because I know we're no where near the place where this ring is necessary."

"Oliver—"

"Twinkie, I think you should know that I love you and that one day I am going to ask you to marry me." her eyes were wide as she stared at the smile that pulled at his lips. "I know it's too soon to even be thinking about this because we haven't even been together that long. It's crazy and I am fully aware of that." Oliver took a step forward and took her hand in his and ran his thumb over her knuckles, letting it stop on one of her fingers."I don't know when and I don't know where we will be in our relationship, but I have no doubt that it will happen. I think you should make your peace with that now, because I fully expect you to say yes." He took another nervous breath as he looked to her and waited for her to reply.

"Can I speak now?" Katie asked and Oliver smiled with a nod. She glanced over to the box on the counter for a few moments and he could tell it was all spinning and twirling inside of her head and a sudden smile came to her lips before she turned to him. "Ok." and with that she turned left the kitchen, leaving Oliver with the biggest, stupidest grin on his face. He grabbed the small box and held it up for a moment and just looked at it.

Oliver saw a light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time in a long time, he liked what he saw. He slid the box into his pocket and went to join the woman he was sure would be right there with him.

There was a roaring fire in a very small cabin in the middle of nowhere. Darkened eyes watched the dancing flames, as he brought his cigar to his lips and once again sucked in the tobacco. There was a knock at the door and the man glanced over his shoulder and signaled for his guard to open it. The moment it was opened, in came the both familiar and unfamiliar face.

"Boss." came the British voice.

"I still don't like the face or the ridiculous accent." replied the boss as he turned back to the flames. "I hear she did well."

"She did extraordinary sir." replied the now very American voice of the henchman. "She successfully eliminated the threats. It was Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen who came to retrieve her." there was a smile that came to the boss' lips at the news, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"The men you hired, were they the best?"

"They were good, as good as we were gonna get on such short notice."

"But they weren't the best. If she is to be who she needs to be, then she has to be able to take down the best."

"Well if it is any consolation sir, I believe her and Mr. Queen's next test is in sights." The henchmen held out a folder to his boss who took it and opened it to reveal a photograph. "His name is—"

"Slade Wilson." the boss said, his eyes glancing back up to fire. "You're right, he will prove to be a challenging test for her and Oliver as well." he looked back over to the man. "Keep our eyes on her, but do not intervene unless I give the order." the henchman nodded and turned and left his boss who began humming a familiar tune. "...you make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

The boss brought the cigar back to his lips and once again sucked in the sweet taste of tobacco that lied inside.


	16. KEYS TO THE TRUTH

**Chapter 16**

**KEYS TO THE TRUTH**

_"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."_

_-Buddha_

* * *

Oliver's fists were clenching ever so often at his side and he wanted so badly to just make the cause of his current aggression go away, but he'd had a very long conversation slash argument about why that wasn't happening.

"Oh, there it is again." he heard Felicity whisper over to John. "I swear I've never seen the vein pop out of his forehead so many times."

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea." John said noticing Oliver seeming to be practicing a lot of restraint at the moment. "Oliver are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." Oliver said turning to Felicity and John. "I would very much not like to watch my girlfriend being—" there was another grunt of pain and they all turned to see Katie once again lying on her back. Another low growl escapes his lips and this time he takes a step forward, but John grabs his arm and pulls him back. Oliver watched as Bruce held out a hand to help Katie to her feet, but she smacked it away, to stand on her own. "You know I still don't understand why I couldn't be the one to spar with her. You're kind of rough."

"That's why he's doing it." Katie says trying to catch her breath as she walks over to grab a bottle of water. "No one I'm fighting is going to take it easy on me and that's the kind of preparation I need."

"Plus she's been out of practice and needs to be whipped back in shape by someone whose not going to be making flirty eyes at her."

"Says the guy who made it a point to take off his shirt the moment Felicity walk down here." Oliver countered with a shake of his head before looking over to Katie. "I get you want to be ready for whenever Ra's makes his move, and I could help you—"

"Fine." Katie says before walking over to him. There was something in her eyes that just told him he wasn't going to like the next words out of her mouth. "Let me go out with the Arrow." Oliver was already shaking his head. "Right, you can't have Nura watching your back, huh?" she turned and walked back over to the sparing mat. Oliver took a slight step forward about to say the things he probably should say in this moment, but he couldn't. To tell the truth, he still wasn't sure he could.

"Well if you ask me, I think you should be focusing on our new friend Roy." Bruce said looking over to Oliver who sent him a glare. Bruce was nearby when he witnessed the young man stop a beam from falling on Moira by throwing himself over her, and not getting a single scratch.

"I've have the Roy situation under control and I'm making some progress." Oliver says letting out sigh before looking over to Katie.

"I still can't believe you told him." Katie muttered with a shake of her head. Oliver had finally come to the conclusion that if he was ever going to help Roy with his new found abilities from the Mirakuru, then he was going to have to bring him into team. He'd brought him down to the basement where he met with John and Felicity, but Katie was still hesitant to reveal her part of the team, even though he's pretty sure Roy already knows.

"If we can't talk about you training with me, then we definitely can't talk about my decision to bring Roy onto the team." Oliver replied.

"Does anyone else have a problem with these decisions Oliver makes for the team without even consulting us?" Katie asked looking over to John and Felicity. Oliver looked over as well with a look that kept both of them silent.

"Don't bring them into this." Oliver says turning back to Katie. "We all agreed that it was necessary."

"Well we all didn't agree—"

"Well majority rules Twinkie, sorry."

"I'm sorry, but I'm totally confused right now!" Felicity says taking a step forward to play referee. "I thought we were all good, you two were all smooching and then for the past couple of days you two have just been at each others throat." she glanced between Oliver and Katie waiting for one of them to speak. "What's going on?" Oliver and Katie's eyes met and they both turned away. "Guys?"

"Felicity we're fine, just drop it." Oliver says before turning to Katie. "Are you coming with me today, or will you and Bruce be taking in a couple of more rounds?" Katie walks over to Oliver and the others seem to gravitate further away to give them some privacy.

"Felicity's right, we're getting really bad. I think you should just apologize so we can put this all behind us." Katie says and Oliver chuckled at her, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer.

"I'm not the one who needs to apologize doctor." he replies before taking step back. "So when you're ready to apologize, I will be ready to accept it." Katie sent the man a glare, that he could tell was hard to keep up from the smile that seemed almost painful for her to keep away. "So are you coming with me, or are you staying here?"

"I'm staying. I was going to see if I can use Bruce's program to find my bunny mask friend who sends people to kill me."

"You've been at it for a while, if you haven't found anything by now, then maybe there's nothing to be found."

"This guy is a mouth piece, a puppet for a man who knows entirely way too much about me, about us. I need to know why." Katie replied and so Oliver just nodded.

"Fine, I shouldn't be long with this meeting with my mother—"

"I think you mean the future Mayor of Starling." Katie replied. "I almost forgot to tell you that she invited me to lunch this weekend. Just me and her."

"Really, why?" Oliver asked and Katie just shrugged.

"No idea, but I'm going to bribe Thea into coming too, so I'm not stuck in some awkward lunch with the mother of the man I sleep with."

"Well I'll come if you want." Oliver said and Katie's eyes were suddenly hopeful. "If you apologize." he couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face at the glare the woman sent him and even though they were in a bit of fight, he really wanted nothing more than to grab and kiss her right now.

"That will never happen Mr. Queen, because I have nothing to apologize about." Katie replied taking a step forward, bringing even less distance between the pair, which Oliver knew was just a tactic to make him give in and he'd be damned that its was actually working. He had to swallow hard, and stuff his hands in his pockets, so he wouldn't reach out to touch her and just say whatever she wanted him to say. "It was your fault, and so you will admit it."

"We'll see about that doctor." Oliver replied with a wink, before looking over to Felicity who stood standing with Bruce. "Felicity, ready?" she looked over and just nodded. Oliver turned back to Katie.

"Just admit what you did, I won't be mad."

"Well I would, if I did it, but I didn't so that only leaves one person." Oliver replied and Katie just shook her head before turning and walking away from him.

Oliver didn't know how much work actually went into campaigning until he was sitting in that boardroom with his mother, Walter and their new campaign manager Mark Francis. There was a lot that was going to happen and he knew it would be an adjustment, but he knew it would make his mother happy. After what Malcolm did, bringing her into his plan and making the city hate her, he was glad she was finding a way back to turning all of that around and once again gaining the city's trust.

"Well, we're starting a campaign." Moira said with a smile after the meeting. He smiled at his mother with a nod.

"Oliver, a word." Francis said and Oliver stood to his feet and walked over to the man. "I know that you and he are friends, but you'll need to end your support for Sebastian Blood." Oliver understood and simply nodded.

"I will talk to Sebastian." he replied.

"Good, there is also the topic of your relationship with Ms. Robins that we may have to discuss." Francis said he noticed a darkened look in Oliver eyes and he quickly began to clarify. "Oh, I'm in full support of the relationship. She's still considered the hero of the Glades from what she did last year which is really going to help us. I just wondered if maybe you would be able to convince her to make a couple of appearances at your side." Oliver quirked a brow because he honestly wasn't sure how Katie would react to such a request. "I think it would really be a big help."

"I will talk to her as well." Oliver replied and the man smiled before walking over to Moira. Oliver was about to leave, when his phone suddenly rang. He looked down to the screen to see that it was Detective Lance and he quickly answered. "Hello?"

Bruce had realized a while back that he would have to be the one to determine when enough was enough. Katie was always so determined, and would keep going even when her entire body was screaming at her to just take a break. So after he felt like they had done enough for the day, he stopped them, she argued but inevitably went stalking to the bathroom to shower.

When Katie walked out of the bathroom, her feet came to a sudden halt when she saw a face she hadn't seen in a while talking with Bruce. The moment she stepped out two pair of eyes turned to her.

"Sara?" Katie stared for a moment before walking over to the woman. "What are you doing here? I thought being ghost was the safest route for your family?"

"It was until Oliver called and told me about Laurel." Sara replied and she could see that Katie didn't expect that. "You didn't know he called."

"I didn't know he knew how to call if he needed to call you." Katie replied looking over to Bruce who seemed to be uncharacteristically quiet. "Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with this?"

"I should go get cleaned up." Bruce chose to say before walking around the woman to the bathroom. Katie turned back to Sara.

"I didn't know she having these kind of problems." Sara replied. Katie was surprised herself that Laurel had turned to alcohol to deal with her problems. After her investigation of Sebastian ended with her being proven wrong, something changed with the woman.

"Did you see her?"

"Yeah, but she was really out of it and probably thought I was a figment of her imagination." Sara sighed before looking up to the salmon ladder. Katie followed her eyes with a quirked brow. "So Bruce told me a little bit about your latest troubles." Sara turned back to Katie. "How are you holding up?"

"Well my feet are still on the floor." Katie says with a slight shake of her head. "I know you want to get on that thing, so I'm going let you get to it." Katie turn about to walk away.

"Wait." Sara said and Katie turned back to her. "You and Ollie, how are things going there?"

"Sara you and I can't have this conversation, remember?" Katie said with shake of her head once again turning to walk away.

"He didn't tell you happened on that boat, did he?"

"No, and I would rather he didn't." Katie replied walking over to one the computers Felicity had set up for her.

John and Felicity arrived first, their eyes immediately going to the woman jumping up and down on the salmon ladder. She gave brief greetings, but just kept going. They then walked over to where Katie and now Bruce sat.

"So Sara is back?"

"Yeah, apparently Oliver called her to check in with Laurel." Katie said not tearing her eyes from the screen. "Bruce helped him."

"I didn't—" Bruce’s eyes turned to the equally accusing gaze of Felicity. "I didn't help him, I just assisted in a search for a friend."

"Dude, both of these women actually have brains." John said with a slight chuckle to which Bruce glared.

"So where is our friend Oliver?" Bruce asked looking over to Felicity.

"He's at the hospital. He got a call from Lance about Laurel's accident and he went to make sure she was ok."

"She's fine, she hit her head and there's only some slight hemorrhaging in her eye from her probably hitting her head, but other than that she's good." it was Katie who spoke, and every stared in confusion. "I made a call to see how she was, now stop looking at me." Katie tilted her head slightly as she looked at the face on the computer screen. It was a cleaned up image of the man who drugged her. "I don't get it. I've been staring at this guy's face for hours and I don't know who the hell he is."

"Maybe you just don't know him." John said. "The mask could just be some weird fetish for this guy."

"No, he wore the mask because he believed that if I saw him I would recognize him." Katie said with a shake of her head. "Which I don't, so this is pointless." she typed a few keys, switching off the image before standing to her feet. "I'm going to go home and curl up in a ball and die. That's the only solution I can come up with right now." Katie turned and headed for the back door. Bruce stood to follow, but the door soon opened and in walked Oliver. Oliver narrowed his eyes to the woman headed his way.

"Where are you going?"

"Home to die." Katie muttered never stopping her stride, until an arm caught her waist stopping her.

"No luck with with the picture?" Oliver asked and Katie looked to him and just shook her head. "Then we'll find something else."

"Sure, but not now. Now you go talk to your friend Sara who you've been keeping in touch with." Katie said, and Oliver glanced up to the salmon ladder where the woman was. Katie tried to pull from his hold, but he wouldn't let her. "Let me go."

"It's not what you think." Oliver whispered and Katie let out a very unattractive snort as she turned back to him.

"I think I get it. You have very close relationships with your ex girlfriends." Katie said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm on a really tight schedule, I should be home under all my blankets and praying the world just swallows me up, so if you would just let me go."

"You're being over dramatic, and I need you here." Oliver replied and looked to him with a quirked brow. "I think there's something more going on with what happened to Laurel."

"She's in a hospital surrounded by some of the best doctors in Starling. I doubt my help is needed." Katie replied once again trying to pull from Oliver's grasp. His eyes trailed over to the others who were unsuccessfully trying to eavesdrop.

"Come with me." He whispered before taking her hand and pulling her with him outside the door. He stopped in the alley, and pushed her back against the wall. "What is going on with you?"

"We're no closer to finding a solution to stopping Ra's or figuring out who the hell kidnapped me and made me kill three men. I don't like just sitting here blind. It makes me nervous. I feel like a bomb just ticking and at any moment someone's going to detonate me and everyone around me is going to be caught in the crossfire."

"I promise you that we will handle this. We will get answers, but for now I need you here. I need you calm and I just need you. Please." Katie turned her eyes away from his in a attempt to think without his eyes clouding her judgment as they usually did. "Look at me."

"No, I will not let your blue eyes hypnotize me." Katie said and Oliver couldn't help but chuckle. After a moment she finally turned back to him and it happened any way. "Ugh, fine, I'll stay. Happy?"

"Very." Oliver replied before bringing his lips to meet hers. The kiss itself, as it always did, seemed to erase the world around them and leave nothing but the person in front of them. Oliver's body was soon pressed against hers, and soon his hands had to feel her skin. Neither heard the squeak of the door opening, but they did hear someone clearing their throat. Oliver pulled his lips from Katie, his hands never leaving their place underneath her shirt, before turning to see Bruce standing there looking more annoyed than surprised.

"Quickies in the alley, really?" Bruce said with a shake of his head before turning and walking back inside. Oliver and Katie both turned back to each other and smiled.

"You think anymore about that vacation?" Oliver asked and Katie chuckled as the pair pulled apart and headed back inside. They ignored the knowing looks from the others as they walked in. The moment Sara spotted Oliver, she jumped from the ladder to the floor.

"Hey." she said grabbing a towel to dry the sweat from her face. "You went to see Laurel, is she going to be ok?"

"Yeah, you saved her life." Oliver replied.

"Thanks for calling me. How did you even—" her eyes glanced over to Bruce and sighed. "You know I thought you were better with keeping secrets."

"I am, but I figured you'd want to be here for your sister." Bruce said and Sara gave him a nod.

"Well I should get going." Sara said glancing over to Oliver before moving past him to grab her shirt.

"So that's it, You're back in town for 24 hours, now you're just going to take off again?" Oliver asked.

"The League is still after her." Katie said and he glanced over to her. "It's the safest thing to do for her family." Oliver shook his head, knowing what she was doing. She was trying to project their situation on to Sara and he wasn't going to let that happen.

"She's right Oliver." Sara added and the man turned to her.

"Your family needs you Sara." Oliver countered and he could see the sudden emotion hit her. She turned away slightly trying to hide it.

"I only came because Laurel was in trouble." Sara muttered walking around the man to get her clothes.

Oliver let out a sigh before turning to Felicity. "Can you do me a favor, can you get a copy of Laurel's blood work?" Felicity eyes narrowed in confusion, but she nodded as she headed to her computer.

"Ok, what are we looking for." she asked.

"I don't know, I just want to make sure of something." Oliver replied before looking to Katie who stood with her arms folded over her chest. "Do we need to talk?"

"We've already said what needed to be said on the topic." Katie replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm here, but it doesn't mean I don't understand why she's doing what she's doing."

"Which is fine," Oliver replied walking over to her. "As long as you can also understand why I do what I do." suddenly the Arrow phone rang, and Felicity grabbed it seeing a familiar number before turning to Oliver.

"It's for you." she said handing him the phone. He looked down to see Lance's name and already knew what he was going to say. The moment he answered the phone, the man was demanding to speak with Sara.

"He wants to meet with me." Sara said after ending the call.

"That's dangerous." Bruce said and she nodded.

"I know, but he didn't leave me with much of a choice. His voice did that thing that always scared the crap out of me." Sara replied grabbing her jacket.

"So you're going?" Katie asked and the woman nodded. "Then I guess I'm coming with you."

"Wait, what?" Oliver said turning back to her about to argue, but Katie met his eyes and beat him to it.

"This is my decision." Katie stated firmly. "I just think—"

"Well Bruce could go." Felicity suggested and they all turned to her not expecting that suggestion from her. "Sorry, it's just I wanted reconfigure some things with the image we picked up on our British guy to see if you could recognize him."

"I've looked at that picture backwards and sideways, I don't think I know who he is."

"Well there's always a chance, right?" Felicity said with an innocent smile. Katie looked at the woman, knowing there was something more so she rolled her eyes and turned back to Oliver.

"Fine, I will stay here with Felicity and Bruce can watch Sara." Katie said.

"Does Bruce get a vote?" Bruce asked and they all turned to him. "I'm seriously not liking this whole team thing." he shook his head before looking over to Sara. "You ready?" The woman nodded before following after the man toward the back door. Oliver stood there for a few moments before heading over to the display case to retrieve his hood.

"You were just gonna go anyways, weren't you?" Katie asked and Oliver glanced over to her.

"Something's just off, I'm going to go and keep an eye on her."

"Because Bruce can't do that?"

"Because despite what everyone seems to think, I'm still on the fence when it comes to Bruce Wayne." Oliver replied before grabbing his hood and walking over to the woman. "Check out the program, see if you have any luck identifying this guy." Oliver leaned into kiss her, but she immediately pulled away.

"Green sock Mr. Queen, green sock." Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but simply shook his head before glancing over to John.

"Back up?" John asked and Oliver nodded before both men turned and headed out the door leaving Katie and Felicity alone. "Green sock?"

"Don't even ask." Oliver replied as they left.

Katie turned to the woman, and dropped into the seat beside her.

"There is no new image." Katie states and Felicity smiles nervously.

"No, not exactly, I just needed you to stay here, while everyone else left." Felicity replied.

"Why exactly?" Katie asked and Felicity let out a deep breath before turning to her computer.

"Because I'm freaking out with information I don't know what to do with." the woman said as her fingers began clicking away on the keyboard. "So when I used to work for Walter, he had me monitoring an organization called Tempest."

"Tempest?"

"Apparently they are the original big players of Starling, which consisted of Malcolm, Robert Queen—" she glanced over to Katie. "It's the organization that tried to recruit your father." Felicity sighed turning back to the computer. "And there was a recent withdrawal for a lot of money."

"How is that possible if all it's members are dead?" Katie asked glancing to the monitor as well.

"Not all of them." Felicity said and it suddenly clicked for Katie.

"Moira?"

"I was able to trace the withdrawal to a doctor Gill, he's the doctor who delivered Thea." Katie turned to the woman in confusion. "I know I didn't understand it at first either, but then I remembered her testimony when she was on trial. She had an affair with Malcolm a year before Thea was born."

"Whoa, wait—" Katie says standing to her feet as the pieces started falling place. "Felicity Smoak, are you shitting me right now?"

"I wish I was." Felicity said standing to her feet as well. "This has been eating away at my insides ever since I found out about it and I needed to tell someone and that person is you, now do something."

"Do what?!" Katie asked now wishing she was the last person Felicity had told this to. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, but you are close to Moira and Oliver and maybe you can talk her into coming clean about this." Felicity said with a shrug. "This is big and both Oliver and Thea deserve to know."

"Of course they deserve to know." Katie replied sliding her fingers through her hair as she tried to think up the best way to come at this. "I'm supposed to be meeting with Moira this weekend for lunch, but that's too late, right?" she looked over to Felicity who nodded. "Tonight, I should see her tonight." Katie took out her cell phone and dialed the woman's number.

It would seem Moira was at a business meeting at a local restaurant, but would gladly meet with Katie before the meeting at the restaurant. Katie was nervous, but agreed, leaving Felicity to meet with the woman. Her cab dropped her off in front of the restaurant, and Katie immediately felt out of place as she watched some of the fancy dressed people walking out of the building. She glanced down her clothes which consisted of a white blouse and black jeans and hoped she didn't stick out too much. With another deep breath, Katie finally took those next steps inside. There was piano playing from somewhere in the restaurant, but Katie's eyes simply scanned the crowd looking for Moira.

"Oh, Ms. Robins." a voice spoke and Katie turned to the Maitre D who seemed to smile widely. "I didn't see your name on our list, but I'm sure we could find a table--" he began glancing around the restaurant as well.

"Actually, I'm here to meet with Moira Queen, is she here?" Katie asked.

"Absolutely, she is at her regular table near the back, I will escort you over." the man replied and Katie gave a nod before following after him. They soon walked to a more secluded part of the restaurant where Moira sat glancing down to papers on the table. The maitre d cleared his throat and the woman looked up with a smile before standing to her feet.

"Oh, hello Katherine—" she gestured to the seat in front of her. "Please sit." Katie nodded before sitting.

"Please give me a wave if you ladies need anything this evening." the Maitre D said before turning and leaving.

"So, Katherine, this was a bit of a surprise." Moira said sitting down as well. "I know we had lunch scheduled this weekend, why did you need to meet with me tonight."

Katie had no idea how to start this conversation, but she knew she just had to. She cleared her throat reaching for the water glass in front of her and taking a sip.

"Everything is alright with Oliver isn't it?" Moira asked.

"Yes, Oliver is fine." Katie assure sitting the glass down. "Look, I'm not sure how to bring this to you so I'm just going to just say it." she took another deep breath and met the woman's eyes. "I know about Tempest." Moira opened her mouth, but Katie held up a hand to stop her before she could speak. "Before you ask me how, at the moment that's not important. What is important is the fact I also know about to money deposited into the Starling National Bank account to a Dr. Gill, the same doctor who delivered Thea." Moira pursed her lips and sat back in her seat. "After finding out about your affair with Malcolm Merlyn, I put two and two together."

"Katherine—"

"Please tell me it isn't true. Tell me you wouldn't hide something like that from your children."

"Please do not assume you fully understand what has happened." Moira whispered leaning closer over the table. "I was not going to risk the happiness of my children and I definitely wasn't going to make Malcolm Merlyn apart of our lives."

"But that's just what you did. You let him manipulate you, you let him make you apart of the Undertaking and you let him get you pregnant. I want to understand ,so please explain it to me."

"Despite what you may believe, I have absolutely nothing to prove to you because this is none of your business."

"You're right, it's a family matter. I'll just let Oliver ask the tough questions." Katie made to stand to her feet, but Moira jumped up and grabbed her wrist.

"Sit down." the woman ordered and Katie stared with a quirked brow. "Please." Katie lets out a deep sigh and drops back down into her seat. "What you're talking about will destroy my family."

"No what I'm talking about is the truth. The longer you keep this secret the more your children will hate you when they find out and trust me sooner or later they will find out. And it's either going to be from you, or me." Once again Katie stood to her feet and began walking away.

"Katherine!" Moira called standing to her feet and Katie stopped walking and turned to the woman. "You say anything, and I promise you, you will regret it." This was a moment Katie never expected. There was list of people she trusted that she could probably count one hand, and one of those people was standing in front of her threatening her. Moira took a very dangerous step forward, closing the distance between her and Katie, to which Katie had to ignore her initial instinct and remember the woman in front of her was still Oliver's mother.

"I would hate for you and my son to end even before you began, but if you push me, then I'm afraid I will have no choice then to push back." Katie held the woman's gaze for a moment, and suddenly realized that Moira Queen wasn't as noble as she once believed. "Don't put yourself in this position."

"Oh trust me Moira, I would rather be anywhere else then where I am right now, but here I am and there is only one way I get out of it and that's if you tell him the truth, so what is it going to be?"

"Katherine, you don't get it do you? He will hate you, just as much, if not more than he will hate me. The woman who tore apart his family." Moira replied. "You're a smart girl, so make the smart decision." and with that the one stood her chair leaving Katie with only her words. Katie stood there for a moment, replaying the woman's words when suddenly her phone rang, and she already knew who it was. She quickly answered and brought the phone to her ear.

"Did Felicity tell you where I was?" Katie said bypassing the normal greeting.

_"Dinner with my mother, yes. I'm still not understanding why?" _

"Your mom said she would be busy this weekend with the Mayoral stuff and wondered if I was free and since I'm now practically living in the basement of the club, I figured it would be alright." Katie turned heading out of the restaurant waiting for Oliver to say something so she would know if he believed her white lie. "I'm about to call a cab and then I'll—" Katie stepped outside the restaurant, only to find Oliver leaning against his bike. She hung up her phone and walked over to him. "You didn't believe I was actually here with your mother, did you? Where has the trust gone in this relationship?" Oliver quirked an eyebrow and Katie couldn't help but laugh. "I could barely say that with a straight face, Mr. Green Sock." she said, but Oliver's face seem to be void of any sign of humor. "What's wrong? Did Sara's visit with her dad go alright?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't her only visit tonight." Oliver said stand up straight from the bike. "Let's talk back at the foundry." Oliver grabbed the bike's helmet and held it out to her, but she didn't move. "Twinkie—"

"Was it the league?" she asked and Oliver lowered the helmet back to his side and simply nodded. "Who did they send?"

"Nyssa Al Ghul." Oliver said and Katie unconsciously began backing away from him, her eyes scanning down both ends of the sidewalk. "Twinkie—" Oliver caught her arm and pulled her back to him. "Look at me." she brought her eyes back to his. "Remember what I told you. We're gonna get through this, and no one is taking you back there." he placed a kiss on top of her head before handing her the helmet and helping her onto the back of the bike. He felt how tight she held on to him and knew his words did nothing to ease her.

It was at no surprise to anyone that when they arrived at the foundry, Katie found her corner and began pacing. Oliver wanted to try to reassure her, but he had to admit he was a bit nervous as well, and decided to pull out a tractor tire and began hitting it with a sledge hammer. When Bruce arrived, he walked up glancing between Oliver and Katie before going to Felicity who was focused on her computer.

"What's going on?" Bruce whispered and the woman looked over to him, before turning her chair to the couple.

"What do you think?"

"Nyssa?" Bruce asked and the woman nodded. He shook his head before walking over to Katie and moving to stand in front of her to stop her pace. "What's going on Robins?"

"Nyssa is here. The daughter of the demon is here and I'm being told that I can't run." she said with a shake of her head. "She's—"

"Here for Sara, you know that." Bruce said placing his hands on Katie's shoulders. "Nyssa has only had one thing on her mind and that is Sara."

"She also follows every word of her father, so please don't tell me there still isn't a chance this isn't that move we've been waiting for." Katie replied. She glanced around the basement before turning back to Bruce. "Where is Sara?"

"I followed and then I guess she decided she didn't need me watching so they ditched me." Bruce said before glancing over to Oliver who seemed so focus that he didn't even notice that he had come in.

"Are we sure that's the smart, leaving her alone with her."

"When it comes to Nyssa and Sara, I'm not even certain what the smart move is." Bruce sighed with a shake of his head.

"Doesn't it seem like a coincidence that the moment Sara returns to check on her sister, Nyssa is there to swoop in and take her back to the crazy farm?" Katie said glancing over to Bruce as she begins pacing again. She's been going over every detail of the events that have lead to this moment, and that is the one part of the story that just seems off.

"You think Nyssa had something to do with Laurel's condition?" Bruce asked.

"I don't know." Katie said with a shake of her head. "Look I'll know more when John comes back with the results from the blood work." The door to the basement opened and Katie stopped moving, her heart dropping from her chest as she begins to back away. She only calms when she realizes that it's only Sara and she's alone. Sara's eyes go to Katie before looking over to Oliver who finally stops pounding the tire, and notices the new faces that have arrived.

"Are you alright?" Katie asked and Sara shakes her head as she walks over.

"Not really. The League is never going to let me go. At least if I'm halfway around the world, then I can keep my family safe." Sara said before glancing over to Oliver who still didn't seem convinced that it was the best idea.

"I'm not sure about that." Came John's voice and they all turned to see him walking from the back entrance, a file in hand. "Just got a copy of Laurel's blood work. She tested negative for drugs." it was the look on the man's face that let them know that there was more to it.

"But she tested positive for something." Katie says taking a step toward the man and holding her hand out for the file.

"Yeah, they found traces of snake venom in her blood. " John says holding out the folder to the woman. "From a Tibetan pit viper." Katie read the file before glancing over to Bruce and Sara. It wasn't the first time they'd heard of such a poison being used, and it was where they first learned of it that made them nervous.

"Wait, so Laurel didn't OD?" Felicity asked in surprise.

"No, she was poisoned." Katie says meeting Sara's wide eyes as she held out the file to her.

"My guess would be by Nyssa, to draw you back here." Oliver says tossing the sledge hammer to the floor and looking to the woman. "And it worked."

"My family's in danger." Sara replied looking up from the file. She glanced between Oliver to Katie.

"Where's your mom and dad?" Katie asked.

"I think they're still at the hospital with Laurel." Sara says. "We need to get to them." Sara was already headed to go change, and Katie was about to do the same, when Oliver caught her arm.

"You should stay here." Oliver says and Katie looks to him with wide eyes.

"Are you kidding me?" Katie asks pulling from his grasp. "If you run into Nyssa and her gang of merry psychos, you're going to need back up. You won't be a match and neither will she. I should come and-"

"I don't want you in the same room as these people. There's still the chance that Nyssa came back to bring you back too and in that case, I don't want you anywhere near her."

"And you think I will be safe here? She probably already knows exactly where I am!" Katie snaps angrily. "I chose to stay here and fight. As much as I don't want to admit this, I am scared that I'm always this close to being dragged back to that hell, but you told me that we would face this together."

"Whatever we're doing, we need to do it now!" Sara yells grabbing her suit, and heading for the door. Oliver brings his eyes back to Katie's awaiting gaze and he still just can't do it.

"He's right Robins." Bruce says and both Katie and Oliver look over to him. "There's a reason a move hasn't been made yet and I wouldn't want to tempt fate. Not until we know what's their next move." Bruce glaces over to Oliver who nods in appreciation.

"Hide and hope the boogie man doesn't find me." Katie grumbles glancing back to Oliver. "Sounds like a awesome plan." Katie rolls her eyes before storming away.

Before they left, Oliver made sure to tell John to keep an eye Katie, just in case she decided to do something unpredictable. John kept his eyes on Katie as she seemed to mull about the lair. He could tell that there was a million and one things floating around her head, and ever so often he noticed her glancing over to the door.

"You know what I don't understand." John said breaking the silence the room had fell into as they waited for a status on what was happening. "You say you're scared of being dragged back to Ra's Al Ghul and yet you volunteer to go up against his daughter."

"Nyssa Al Ghul is a highly trained and very dangerous assassin. " Katie replies looking over to the man. "Taught by the demon himself. So yes I am very scared of being forced back there, but when it comes to man I love having to face that woman, I would gladly risk it."

"Oh my God." Felicity sighed turning to John and Katie. "Nyssa has Sara's mother."

Katie let out a low growl as she turned away.

_Every moment spent on the plane from the ARGUS HQ was spent with Katie analyzing and thinking up every possible plan for escape. _

_"You're quiet." Lyla said walking over and sitting in the seat beside Katie. _

_"Not much to say to my kidnappers." Katie replied not tearing her gaze from the window that overlooked the thick clouds that were slowly turning gray. _

_"You will get home, all you have to do is play your part." Lyla replied and Katie let out a snort before turning to the woman. _

_"Do you know why I'm here? Me? The rich doctor from some random city?" Katie turned her body to face the woman. "You don't do you? It makes no sense, and yet you follow orders like a good little girl." Lyla simply smiled at the attempt of intimidation. _

_"You're here because someone believes you're more than just some rich doctor from some random city." Lyla replied when suddenly the seat belt sign began blinking. "I guess we're landing." both women fastened their seat belts as they felt the plane lowering to the ground. Once the plane landed, Lyla looked over to Katie. "Stay here." the woman stood to her feet and walked from the plane, leaving only Katie and another agent. _

_"You know in college, I read somewhere that electronic monitoring goes back as far as the 1960's" Katie said, but the agent didn't even bat eye as he continued to stand watch. "A couple of guys at Harvard are the reason I have this shit on my ankle." Katie rose her leg and pulled up her pant to reveal the clunky monitor. "But every lock has a key, and every locksmith makes a spare." Katie drops her feet back to the floor and unclasps the seat belt and she notices the agent stand just a bit straighter. "But when you don't have a key-" she stands to her feet and the agent quickly pulls out his gun and aims it toward her. "And you don't have a spare, you have to be creative. " she begins moving toward him, she notices the nervous look in his eyes. _

_"Stop walking!" he orders, his finger hovering over the trigger. _

_"You can't kill me. You know it and I know it, but you can shoot me and I think we both know you only get one shot and that shot-" she shook her head with a slight click of her teeth. "That one shot is the shot that will define this moment." she glances down. "You carry a taser and I want it." she meets the man's eyes once again. "So either you choose that one shot against the woman who has trained with the man who stars in all the myths passed around your agency or you can hand me the taser." the man stares at her and she can see the wheels spinning as he weighs his options. Katie wasn't very sure of what he would choose, but she soon got her answer when he lowered his gun back to his side and reach under his jacket for his taser before tossing it to her. "Good choice." Katie raises her leg and pulls her pants up to once again reveal the monitor. Her eyes scan over the monitor and realizes that she has no idea what she's doing or even if this will work and so she just wings it and places the taser on the side of the bracelet and ignites it. She can feel the heat from the taser when suddenly the lights on the monitor just shut off. "I can't believe that worked." she dropped the taser and turned back to the agent. _

_"The biggest mistake this agency has ever made was bringing you here." The agent said with a shake of his head. "And the best choice that could ever happen is watching you finally disappear." he stepped a side. "There is back exit to the plane, take it and never come back." Katie could see the distaste the man held in his gaze as he looked at her and for some reason it hurt. This guy who she doesn't know, who she will probably never see again is looking at her like a monster and she can't explain the twisting of her gut because of it. There isn't time to feel it though, and so without another word Katie rushes past him and finds the exit._

_Katie doesn't think she's moved so fast a day in her life. There was nothing that would stop her. She had one goal in sight and that was getting home. For the first time in a long time, Katie finally saw freedom as she ran down the dark streets of Gotham. She had to stop, had to figure out a next move, so she ducked into dark alley, letting her back fall against the brick wall and tried to catch her breath. Katie was about to run again when there was a sudden sound above her head. She lifted her eyes, but could barely see anything. _

_"Well, well, well." Came a familiar voice that echoed in the alley. "We assumed that we would only find one runaway dog and then we find two." Katie's eyes turned down the darken ed alley, her heart racing in her chest as she hears the nearing footsteps of the woman who seemed to be the gatekeeper of hell. Soon the woman's face caught a bit of light from a street lamp. "Hello Nura." _

_"Nyssa." Katie replied, her voice seeming much more smaller than normal. _

_"I think my father would be happy to see you." _

When Oliver, Sara and Bruce finally came back, the failure was practically written over their faces. No one was quite sure what to say at the moment, but Felicity decided a plan of action would be a good place to start.

"So what's next?" the woman asked and they looked over to her.

"Nyssa has given me twenty four hours to decide whether trade myself for my mother or she kills her." Sara says tossing down her mask and stalking off to change. She glanced over to Katie's direction and the women's eyes met for a brief moment before Sara went into the bathroom.

"What happened out there?" Katie asked turning back to Bruce and Oliver who were also pulling off their suits.

"She got away." Oliver said avoiding the woman's eyes as he pulled off his hood. "We will find her and save Sara's mother."

"Alright, Bruce-" the man looked over to her. "What is your version of what happened out there?"

"We lost her. Sara got distracted which in her situation I can't really blame her. I followed the van for a while, but I lost it." Bruce said looking over to the woman.

"Sara should not have been the point of extraction." Katie replied with a shake of her head as she looked between Bruce and Oliver. "It's her mother, and she is too close to this. It was inevitable that her feelings got in the way of the mission."

"Excuse me!" Sara said storming from the bathroom, now changed. "I did not-"

"Yes you did and you know it." Katie replied looking to the woman. "And you needed someone there to tell you that and neither one of you did."

"Let me guess, you could've stopped this. You could've saved the day?" Oliver asked already seeing where this conversation is going.

"I'm saying that there needed to be a rational person out there tonight, someone who can make the smart decisions every time, and in this case that wasn't any of you." she glanced around looking at each of them. "Don't get me wrong-" she looked over to Sara. "This is your mother, and I completely understand why emotions are driving you, but these two should've been driven by common sense." she looked over to Bruce. "You're not thinking like-"

"Like him?" Bruce asked walking over to the woman. "I'm not living by the word of the demon and because of that I'm not being driven by common sense? Let me tell you that if my life is veering from the teachings of that sick son of a bitch then I must be doing something right." Bruce scoffed before turning and heading to get changed. Katie turned back to Oliver who just shook his head.

"Ra's Al Ghul was a sick son of a bitch, but me, Bruce-" she glanced over to Sara. "And you will never say we didn't leave that place without learning something." Katie turned back to Oliver. "You're afraid of what me putting on the masks does to me, you're afraid that you lose me when I put it on, but you don't. The same Twinkie that puts that mask on is the same Twinkie that is standing in front of you right now." Katie walked over and placed herself right in front of Oliver. "Right now, this is me telling you that whether you like it or not, the next encounter with Nyssa I will be there." she saw the way his eyes darkened. Oliver Queen was a man that did not like to be told what to do especially when he didn't agree with the order. "You can refuse and you can say no, but either way I will do it, with you or without you." she glanced over to Sara . "We are going to get your mother back without you having to return to that hell." Sara silently nodded. Katie looked back over to Oliver who had yet to respond. "We wait for Nyssa's call and then we make our move. I'm going to wait for you to change and then I'll be upstairs when you're ready to go." with that Katie turned and headed for the stairs, giving Sara a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder before leaving.

The basement was quiet, and no one moved right away as they let the woman's words settle. Soon everyone's eyes went to Oliver who just shook his head before grabbing his clothes.

The entire drive home was spent in a brutal silence that neither Katie, nor Oliver even tried to break. The hostility was just too thick between them and they were afraid that if they did speak, they might say something they would regret later. When they walked in the house, Katie headed for the kitchen and Oliver stopped right at the door. Katie noticed, and turned back to him with a look of confusion.

"I should probably leave, right?" he said, his voice rasp with emotions he was trying his best to keep locked inside. Katie shook her head and walked over to stand in front of him.

"This-" Katie says waving her hands around. "This is our home. You and me. Here there are no fights about heroes and villains, there are no masks here. " she shook her head. "We fight about mysterious green socks that appear in a load of laundry and turn everything green, but that-" she point toward the door. "Everything out there does not come here. So if you want to leave then I won't stop you, but know that it was your choice, not mine." Katie turned and continued to the kitchen, stopping right at the door when she hears the front door close. She takes a deep breath and turned back to the man who chose to stay on this side of the door tonight. "Are you hungry?" he looked at her for a moment, his eyes only on her and she wonders what he's thinking right now.

"No." Oliver says with a shake of his head before walking toward her and capturing her lips with his. His hands slide across her waist, hoping that keeping them occupied would keep them from the ring in his pocket. The kiss if filled with a passion and need that seems to great in this moment, and so Oliver lifts Katie from the floor, her legs naturally wrapping around his waist. He slowly walks them to the stairs, and carefully up the stairs.

The next morning, Oliver woke up first. His eyes snapped open and his heart raced in his chest as the remnants of his nightmare floated away. He'd noticed a while ago, that his nightmares of his five years away from home usually didn't come when he had the woman who was currently nestled against his side, with him. But for some reason last night, they'd come back, only this time they were different. He found himself once again on the island, that moment Ivo had a gun to both Sara and Shado's head and he told him to choose who lives and who dies. Out of all the hell that he faced on that island, that had to be the worst possible one. Usually the dream ends like it did all those years ago, but last night something happened. Ivo was counting down, and when he was done his gun was aimed at the back of Sara's head.

_"Wait, wait, no!" Oliver says running over and dropping in front of the man's gun and Ivo turns to him with a slight smirk on his face. _

_"I guess you've made your choice." And everything after that moment, happens too fast. Ivo aims his gun to Shado, and shoots without hesitation and Oliver screams, but it doesn't matter. Against his better judgment, he turned and looked over to the woman and his eyes went wide because it wasn't Shado lying there dead. _

_"Twinkie?" Oliver crawls on his knees, his hands still bound behind his back as he moves closer to the woman. "No, no-" he tried to pull free, but he couldn't. "Katie, wake up! You can't-" he drops his head to rest on hers. "You can't leave me." _

_"You allowed this to happen Oliver." _

That was the moment he opened his eyes and realized that Katie going out there, putting on that mask and putting her life on the line was just something that couldn't happen. A soft murmur soon escape Katie's lips as she woke up, and Oliver's arm around her seem to grasp her even tighter. Katie lifted her head to meet his eyes with a tired smile and Oliver leaned forward to kiss her.

"Good morning." her voice rasp, still filled with sleep.

"Good morning." Oliver replied before kissing her once again. This kiss longer and deeper, which always leads to one thing. They're bodies shift, and Oliver hovers above her, pulling her legs over his hips bringing them closer. Passion, lust and love was all in the air in that room, until it was brutally interrupted by the bedroom door opening.

"Alright, whatever you're doing just stop!" came the familiar voice of Thea Queen. Both Katie and Oliver jumped apart, pulling the covers over themselves as they look up to see Thea who is holding a hand over her eyes.

"Speedy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Oliver asked angrily. "How-" he shook his head when another question hit him. "How did you even get in the house?"

"Twinkie gave me a key." the woman replied and Oliver looked over to Katie who glared over to Thea.

"For emergencies Thea and you don't seem to be dying, so why are you here, bursting into our bedroom?"

"The rally is today, and I want everything to be perfect for mom, so I just came to make sure everyone's attire was appropriate." Thea replied with a shrug. "Mostly you, since Oliver just needs to put on a suit and he's GQ."

"What rally?" Katie asked looking over to Oliver who dropped his head. "Liver?"

"Speedy, I need you to give us a minute." Oliver said and Thea groaned.

"Fine, but make it quick, I have a lot of work ahead of me." the young woman replied before turning and stalking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"So there is a rally?" Katie asked turning to Oliver.

"My mother is announcing her run for Mayor today, and her campaign manager wants me and Thea there, and he sort of thought it was a good idea that maybe you be you be up there as well." Oliver and Katie looked at him in confusion. "I guess he figures if the savior of the Glades is standing behind the woman who's negatively associated with the Glades, then it could help votes."

"So your mother wants to use me to get votes?" Katie asked with a shake of her head before sliding out of bed and grabbing a nearby robe and putting it on.

"It's not like that." Oliver says standing to his feet and grabbing a pair of pants. "Look since my mom got out of jail, it's been hard for her to prove herself to the people. This is her way of doing that, and she needs your help." Katie turned looking over to Oliver. "Do it for me." She stood there for a moment, so tempted to tell Oliver the kind of person his mother really was, but she bit her tongue. She decided she was going to give the woman one more chance to come clean and she figured this rally was her chance to confront the woman once again.

"Fine, I'll do it, but you owe me." Katie says with a pointed finger.

"Anything you want." Oliver says with a smile and Katie smirks mischievously letting him know those words were probably a mistake. "Anything you want within reason."

"Sure, reason." Katie says before looking over his shoulder and sighing. "Now go get your sister before she bursts in here again."

"Don't worry, me and Speedy are going to have a little talk." Oliver says before turning and walking toward the door.

When Thea was finished primping and preparing Katie for the rally, she took a step back to admire her handy work.

"I should get paid for this." Thea said as she let her eyes go over the woman who wore a simple little black dress that stopped a few inches above her knees.

"It's too short." Katie says pulling at the skirt of the dress in an effort to cover her legs.

"It's fine, and you have great legs." Thea commented as she looked down to the fire red pumps the woman wore. "Plus no one with even notice those shaving scars." Katie glanced down at her legs and shook her head. She wished she could tell the woman that those scars weren't from shaving, but she decides to just not.

"Hey, you guys ready? Diggle's here!" Oliver called from downstairs.

"Go, I'll be down in just a minute." Katie says and Thea nods.

"Don't worry, you look great Twinkie." Thea reassured before turning and leaving the bedroom.

Katie turned back to the full length mirror and sighed.

"You can do this." Katie whispered to herself trying to suppress the nerves she had about standing on a stage in front of so many eyes. She glanced down and smoothed out the slight wrinkles of the dress when she heard the bedroom door open. "Speedy, I said I would be down in a-" Katie glanced up to see that it was Oliver who stood frozen at the door as he stared at her. "What do you think?"

"You-" Oliver Queen was rarely speechless, so Katie figured Thea really had a knack for this fashion thing. After a moment, it seemed he could think again and he smiled. "You look great."

"You don't it's too short." Katie says looking down to the dress.

"You look nice Twinkie." the man said walking over and placing his hands on her waist. "No, you look beautiful."

"Well you don't look to bad yourself." Katie replied with a smile as she brought her arms up around his neck as Oliver moved in closer to kiss her.

"Seriously guys?" Thea's voice said tearing through the room. "You can literally make out anytime you want." Oliver and Katie turned with glared at the woman. "What?"

The Queen Consolidated lobby was filled with press and other people Katie didn't know. She found herself standing alone off to herself hoping no one would engage her conversation. She glanced over to where Oliver stood beside his mother and sister as they talked to the man Oliver had introduced as Moira's campaign manager, Mark Francis. Oliver glances over to her with a small smile and holds up a finger to let her know he shouldn't be too much longer.

"Dr. Robins?" a voice said from behind Katie, and it was familiar. Once Katie turned she was met with the familiar faces of people she assumed she probably wouldn't see again. "It's great to see you again."

"You too, uh-"

"Lois Lane." The woman replied holding up her hand to shake. "From the Daily Planet."

"Right, in Metropolis." Katie replied shaking the woman's hand. "News slow back home?"

"No, but news here in Starling was getting way too interesting for me and Clark not to go check it out." Lois replied and Katie glanced over to the woman's partner, who looked slightly nervous behind his thick brimmed glasses. He chose to let his eyes scan the crowd instead of looking to Katie. Lois looked over to Clark and frowned before elbowing him in the side. "Isn't that right Clark?"

"Uh, yeah." the man replied with a smile.

"Dr. Robins-"

"Katie, call me Katie. I only go by doctor when I'm actually working."

"You know I did hear that you quit your job at Glades Memorial." Lois said and Clark rolled his eyes. Lois actually took investigative reporting to a whole new level to dig up information on the woman in front of them. "Any reason why?"

"No comment, Ms. Lane." Katie says turning to Clark and tilting her head slightly. There was something about the man, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Could you at least give a statement on today's press conference." Lois said and Katie looked back to her. "Moira Queen, accused of being a co- conspirator to the Undertaking that cost the lives of hundreds of people is announcing that she running for Mayor. " the woman pulled out a recorder and held it in front of Katie who after recent events found kind words for Moira Queen very difficult. "What do you have to say about that?"

"Moira Queen was involved in something that will be a stain on this city's history for a long time, and she went through due process and the found that given the circumstances, she wasn't acting of her own free will. Moira isn't going on that stage today to tell the people to forget what happened, she's going up there and telling them that if they vote for her, then she'll do whatever she can to make up for what was lost."

"So you're saying her mayoral run is built on guilt?" Lois asked and Katie shook her head.

"Moira's campaign is built on hope Ms. Lane. Hope that this city can be raised back up after it was knocked down. If you would excuse me." Katie turned and walked off, sifting through the crowd hoping no more reporters asked her any more questions. She found the bathroom, and quickly went inside. Katie let out a deep sigh as she walked over to the sink and looked up to the woman staring back at her. "You can do this." The door behind her opened and she glanced up to see that it was none of other than Moira. When the woman stepped inside, she stopped for a moment when she saw Katie, before pulling on a smile and walking over to the mirror to check her make up.

"I can't thank you enough for coming and giving your support Katherine. "Moira said, her eyes on the mirror. "You have no idea how-" Katie held up a hand for the woman to stop talking before turning and pushing every stall door to make sure they were all alone. Once she saw that everything was clear, Katie turned and walked back over to the woman.

"You're going to tell Oliver the truth."

"Not this again, I told you-"

"I know what you told me. Telling him would destroy your family and he will hate you and me for telling him." Katie says with a shake of her head. "And it kills me to think that he could hate for just telling him the truth, but this secret, this secret I don't even know how you were able to keep without it driving you insane, is big Moira and like I said yesterday, if you do not tell him I will." and with that Katie turned and headed for the door.

"Katherine, do not walk out of that door!" Moira ordered and for some reason Katie stopped moving, but she didn't turn. "I can make your life very difficult to live." that was threat as clear as day and Katie turned back to the woman with a raised brow. "Your mother, as much as a saint she was, had her secrets. Secrets that if told to the world would tarnish that woman's name and what do you think that would do to you?" Moira began walking over to Katie, her heels clicking with each step. "Do you think you could live with the cameras, and questions and the press digging into every detail into your mothers life, picking her apart, picking you apart." the woman stopped when she was right in front of Katie who didn't even flinch at the woman's words. "We all have secrets we want to protect and if you keep mine, I promise to keep your mother's." Katie simply stared at the woman for a long moment before turning and leaving the bathroom.

Katie once again sifted through the crowd, barely focused on anything happening around her as she played the woman's words in her head. Soon a hand caught her arm and she stopped and turned to see Oliver, with an obvious look of concern.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"Uh, bathroom." Katie replied with a slight shake of her head before meeting his eyes. "I can't be here right now." she turned to walk away, but Oliver was right behind, catching her arm to stop her and pull her down a secluded hall away from the crowd.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked and Katie stared at him and his confusion as Moira's words kept playing over and over again in her head. "Twinkie talk to me." Katie glanced down to his tie, before reaching up and straightening it. "Katie?" Oliver says a little more firmly and she raises her eyes back to meet his.

"I have done a lot of terrible, unforgivable things in my life, and I've lived every day trying to make up for them the best way I know how. And one of those ways is trying to be honest and I know that's something we really want to do and-" she turned away, Moira's words carving themselves deeper and deeper in there brain.

"Just tell me."

"I don't want you to hate me and I don't want to lose you." Katie said and Oliver placed his finger on her chin and moved her eyes back to his.

"I don't even think either of those things is possible." he muttered and Katie smiled slightly, but if fell when she realized the next words that had to come out of her mouth.

"Alright." Katie sighed knowing that this was the right thing to do. As so she told him everything, not leaving out a detail. When she finally finished, he turned his eyes away from her, and she could see that pain that he held behind them from the revelation.

"I'm sorry." she said and he turned back to her placing his hand against her cheek before bringing his lips to hers. The kiss was ended with a camera flash, and both pulled apart to see the camera being aimed at them. They both glared at the man, before Oliver took Katie's hand and pulling her back to the crowd. Katie did have to pull the man back as he moved toward the reporter when they walked past him.

"Oliver there you are." Mark said walking over to the couple. "We're ready for you." he looked over to Katie. "Ms. Robins, I'm going to have you on stage right next to Thea, alright?" Katie simply nodded before looking over to Oliver.

"Could you give us just one minute Mark." Oliver said and the man looked confused, but nodded and walked away. "What I do right now?" he turned to Katie who placed a hand on his chest.

"You know what you have to do Liver." Katie replied with a slight shake of her head. "It sucks, but this has to be handled very carefully for your sister's sake." Oliver nodded glancing over his shoulder to the see his smiling sister, standing beside his mother.

"You're right." Oliver replied looking back to Katie. He once again took her hand and led them to the stage.

To anyone else, Oliver's speech was one of a doting son, but Katie knew the truth. She heard the slight inflections in his voice, how emotions he was trying to hide would show in a word he obviously didn't want to say. Katie felt a sudden vibration in her purse and opened it slightly to see the screen. It was Sara. Katie glanced up, all eyes still on Oliver, and thought now would be a good time to just slips off stage. The moment she was out of sight from prying eyes, she brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey, what's up?"

_"Nyssa called, I want your help." Sara said._

"Of course, I just have to wait for Oliver to-"

_"No Oliver."_ Sara replied._ "You were right. I am too close to this, and I need someone there who can make moves without the emotions."_

Katie looked back to the stage where Oliver was finishing up his speech. She had no doubt he'd be upset or that if he did know what was happening he'd fight with her tooth and nail for her to stay out of this.

"Alright, text me with the details, I'm going to change and meet back with you." Katie ended the call before sifting through the crowd.

"Hey." Felicity said appearing beside her. "What's happening, where are you going?" Katie looked over to her, before glancing to the stage where Oliver's eyes seemed to move right to her.

"Back to the lair, Sara called and said she had some news." Katie says turning back to Felicity. "I just want to get there and make sure she doesn't try to do something stupid. Let Oliver know when he's done, and you all meet us back there." Felicity just nodded before watching Katie rush from the door.

When Katie rushed into the basement of the lair, she didn't expect to find Sara standing there. she turned to her. "Just let me change." Sara silently nodded as she walked to the far closet to retrieve her own vigilante gear figuring her presence there should still be hidden. "We have to hurry, Oliver's probably on his way here." It didn't take long for Katie to slip out of the dress, and put on the clothing that always made her feel more alive. She wiped the make up from her face and slipped on the domino mask before coming back out. "Lets go." Sara nodded and they both headed out the door.

They didn't walk far from the club, when Katie noticed a familiar car parked up a head of them .

"Sara, is that-"

"My dad is coming." Sara said looking over to Katie. "I need him to get my mother to safety while we handle Nyssa." Katie didn't like the idea of riding in a car with a man who knew her and didn't know her at the same time. Sara reaches in her pocket and pulls out her voice modulator and handing it to Katie.

Quentin stepped out of his car when he saw the two women approaching, his eyes going to the woman in a mask first and then to his daughter.

"I thought you wanted to keep this a family matter." Lance said and Sara glanced over to Katie.

"She is family." Sara said with a slight smile before walking around to get into the car. Quentin and Katie stood there for a moment as if sizing each other up.

"You know I was expecting a lot more gratitude from you." Katie said, her voice hidden by the modulator. "Especially after getting you help after your team was killed." the man's eyes went wide as the woman walks around as well to get in the car. For the longest time he thought he'd gone crazy, remembering the voice of a woman as he lied there just waiting to die. Suddenly the cops showed up saying a tip had came in from some woman. Maybe it was her. The man simply shook his head before turning and getting into the car as well.

Night had came as they pulled in front of some old factory. They all stepped from the car and scanned the area. Without a word, Katie veered off from Sara and Quentin.

"Where is she going?" Lance asked.

"She's going to make sure we're not walking into a trap." Sara replied nodding toward the building for her father to follow.

Katie found a fire escape that lead to a window higher in the building. She quickly and quietly climbed up, peeking inside where she saw Quentin and Sara walking in to see Nyssa standing beside Sara's mother. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, so she pushed opened the window and climbed inside. Sarah's mother was released, and walked over to see the daughter she'd prayed to lay eyes on once again. After a short reunion, Sara's eyes went back to Nyssa.

"Dad, get mom out of here!" Sara ordered pulling from her mother's grasp.

"What?" her mother says as Quentin brings his arms around her and begins pulling her away. The moment they're gone, Sara stumbles off her feet.

"Sara-" Nyssa says rushing to catch the woman.

"Sara!" Katie yells jumping from her perch above them. Nyssa places her hand above her knife, but stops when she realizes who it is. Katie kneels down to Sara, noticing the change in her eyes. "You took the poison?"

"I couldn't go back to the killing." Sara mutters, the life leaving her slowly.

"I told you, I promised you I wouldn't let that happen." Katie said with a shake of her head. Soon Quentin and Dinah rushed back in to see their daughter lying on the ground. Lance called in for back up, but they all knew it was pointless. Nyssa angrily stands to her feet and stands above them, her eyes still on Sara.

"If you want to be with your family so badly, they can join you in eternity." Nyssa's hand reached for her knife, and Lance stood with his hand on his gun.

"Don't." Katie says standing and pulling the man back. She placed herself in front of Nyssa Al Ghul. "This is over Nyssa. You're going to pull yourself up by your bootstrap and go home."

"Oh Nura, you have no idea what he has in store for you." Nyssa said taking a step forward, closing the distance between them. "But you won't even make it if you place yourself in my affairs."

_Katie could barely breathe as she stood in the familiar room surrounded by candles she doesn't think have ever gone out. She glances around, not seeing the man and remembers what Waller told her about it being believed that Ra's was dead. Katie glanced over to Nyssa who stood quietly and patiently beside her. Soon one of the league rushed in and whispered something to Nyssa that made her face contort in confusion. She turned to Katie, grabbing her arm and pulling her once again. _

_"What's happening?" Katie asked, but the woman didn't even say a word. "Where are you taking me?" _

_"My father hasn't arrived yet." the woman called back to her. "Until he does, he wants you to wait in your quarters." Nyssa pushed Katie into a room, she hoped to never see. Another one of her prisons. "He wants you to rest up because you are going to need all your energy."_

Katie reached behind her and pulled out her sais, gripping them firmly in her hands as Nyssa pulled free her knife from it's sheath.

"You're so much like your father Nyssa. Always trying to take what doesn't belong to you because you feel you can." Katie says. "It's why you lost her. Why everyone you and that sick bastard you call father, lose everyone you want." Nyssa's eyes darkened, and before Katie knew it, the woman had swung her dagger. Katie rose her sias, blocking the hit before kicking Nyssa back.

"You have always found yourselves in fights you know you can't win Nura." Nyssa taunted before tossing down the knife, and pulling free her bow and arrows before aiming them at Katie. "This will be no different." Katie turned and ran as arrow after arrow came flying at her, everyone of them barely missing her. She hid behind a support beam for cover, before taking one of her sai by the blade and shooting toward Nyssa. She heard the woman grunt and so she peaked around to see the blade only cut the woman's upper arm. "That was not smart Nura. Now I will have to kill you."

"It must really kill you that she ran from you!" Katie taunted as she untied her hood to reveal the knives she had strapped to her. "You pushed her away, and she would rather die than go back to you." Katie swung her other sai at the woman, this one missing her, but distracted her long enough for Katie to run again, throwing more knives as she did before finding another support beam, "How many arrows do you have Nyssa, because I bet I have more knives."

"And I bet that I would kill you with my last arrow before you could even reach for your knives."

"You know he said I was one of his best students. That's why you look at me the way do." Katie said with a light chuckle. "It kills you to know that he focused so much on me and not his own daughter. " Katie heard the woman's feet move in closer, and brought her knives in hand. All she needed was the woman close enough to get the shot she needed. She heard another arrow release, but it didn't come near her. Katie peeked from behind the beam to see an arrow right beside Nyssa as the woman looked over to something. Following the woman's eyes, Katie looked over where she saw the Arrow with his bow aimed at Nyssa.

"Live or Die, your choice." his modulated voice declared and soon the pair erupted in a battle of arrows. Katie looked over to where Sara still laid, with her parents hovering above her trying to keep her awake. She ran from her hiding spot, running back over to Sara.

"Look at me Sara." Katie asked, and the woman barely opened her eyes. Katie looked back over to Oliver and Nyssa who were back on the ground, both without arrows, and now fighting hand to hand and Oliver was holding on too well. Katie looked over to Quentin and Dinah. "Keep her talking and keep her eyes open." they both nodded before watching the woman run off. Katie ran before dropping, and throwing a leg out as Nyssa stepped back, causing the woman to stumble back. Katie quickly jumped on top of her, straddling the woman before grabbing one of her knives and placing it right under Nyssa's throat.

"You do not have it in you." Nyssa seethed and Katie smirked as she leaned in closer to the woman.

"I didn't, but then your father put it in me." Katie whispered, pressing the knife deeper into the woman's neck.

"Don't kill her!" a weak voice called and they turned in surprise to see Sara standing weakly. "Please." she dropped to the ground. Oliver quickly jumped back to his feet and ran over to her, pulling out a pouch and forcing it's contents in her mouth. Katie released Nyssa, and they both stood and watched, waiting for something to happen.

"Hold on." Oliver muttered to the woman, before she jumped back up. She glanced over to Oliver and then to Nyssa, before standing to her feet.

"Nyssa please, no more killing." Sara pleaded. Nyssa said nothing for a moment, as pain seemed to wash over her face and that's when she took a slight step back.

"Ta-er sah-fer, in the name of Ra's al Ghul I release you." Nyssa said tearfully, before looking over to Katie and then turning and running off. Katie looked over to Oliver, when they suddenly heard the calls of Sara's parent, mixed with the sounds of impending sirens. They needed to leave. Katie looked over to Sara and gave her nod before looking over to Oliver who ran over to her. They sent one final look to the woman before leaving before the cops arrived.

Neither said a word the entire ride back to the club, and once they finally arrive, Oliver simply stalked inside still choosing to not speak to Katie.

"So..." Felicity said a bit cautiously, seeing the hostility between the two. "Sara has her mom back and she doesn't have to be kidnapped by assassins. Go team!" Oliver didn't say a word as he sat down his bow and began pulling off his hood.

"Don't worry Felicity, Oliver's just in a bit of a mood, because he thought he came to save me tonight and realized he didn't have to."

"She had you pinned down!" Oliver snapped angrily turning back to her. "If I had not shown up when I did-"

"I would have gotten her close enough to actually wound her. Let's not forget who inevitably saved who today."

"I was fine, I-"

"You were down, and I saved you." Katie said with a shake of her head. "I can do this. I can put on this mask and I can help you."

"And what if I don't want your help out there? What if I want a girlfriend who doesn't want to risk her life?"

"Can you really use that as an argument given who you are and what you do at night?" Katie asked before turning to John. "Would you be able to take me home. Oliver is talking out of his ass and needs time to come up with an argument that actually makes sense." John glanced over to Oliver, but turned to Katie and nodded.

"Sure." John said grabbing his jacket before the pair headed out the back door.

Oliver let out a low growl as he walked over and pulled on his tshirt. Felicity stood off to the side watching the man closely as he began walking around the lair with no intended destination.

"Am I the bad guy here?" Oliver asked glancing over to Felicity as he continued walking. "I mean I don't want the woman I love to throw herself in front of arrows and I don't want her risking her life. I don't want her-"

"To be you?" Felicity asked and Oliver stopped walking and looked over to the woman. "C'mon Oliver, that's what this is right. You're starting to see what we've all seen. How similar you two are. How the events of your pasts have made you these people intent of making up for your sins. She just wants what you want. Some sort of absolution." Oliver turned away at her words.

"You know when we were younger, she had this thing about bugs." Oliver said glancing back to the woman. "They seriously freaked her out. And if she would see one, she'd jump up so fast and hide behind me and yell at me to kill it." a smile crossed his face at the memory. "And I don't know, I liked being the guy who saved her. I like being able to be her hero." he shook his head slightly. "At some point I might not be able to save her and-"

"Are you joking right now?" Felicity asked suddenly and Oliver looked over to her with confusion. "We are in the twenty first century Oliver, and not all women need to be saved." Felicity walked over and stood in front of him. "Especially not Katie who you have yet to save once. She's good, and whether you like it or not she is a hero and it's time you finally come to grips with that because she also is very risky and gets into situations that bring her so close to not coming back. She could use your wisdom and your experience with this." Oliver looked at the woman for a moment before giving her nod and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks Felicity." Oliver gabbed his jacket and headed for the door before stopping and turning back to Felicity. "Did you need a ride or something?"

"Oh, no-" the woman said with a shake of her head before holding up her phone. "I'm just waiting on a call from Bruce. I haven't spoken to him for a while and I'm starting to get nervous."

"I'm sure he's alright. Maybe he has a lead on the whole Ra's front." Oliver said and Felicity just nodded before watching the man turn and leave.

John pulled up in front of Katie's house and they both sat there for a few moments in silence.

"Alright, thanks John." Katie said suddenly before reaching for the door.

"You should cut him some slack."John says and Katie stops and looks over to him. "Sure he's being an ass but it's because he really worries about you."

"You don't think I know that?" Katie asks with a shake of her head. "But he won't tell me what he's really worried about. He gives me these stupid reasons that don't make sense, and I can't help him when he does that."

"Isn't it obvious? It's taken Oliver a long time to get where he is now, to know what justice really means. Before that we almost lost him. He just doesn't want that to happen to you." Katie looked to the man for a moment before giving him a nod. "So you should probably cut him some slack."

"Fine, we'll talk again. Hopefully less loud and angry." Katie said before giving the man slight pat on the arm before stepping out of the car.

Katie walked inside her dark home, letting out loud yawn as she began stripping away her clothes. Leaving her with nothing on but a tank top and boy shorts, by the time she reached the kitchen. She headed for the refrigerator, in hopes that there would be food, but stopped when she saw something move past the back door. Katie didn't hesitate to pull a knife from the butcher's block and headed for the door. She pulled open the door and walked out onto the back porch and searched the darkness.

"Does it frighten you how often you turn to the blade to solve your problems?" came a familiar voice, that Katie couldn't immediately find it's source. She soon realize that was probably done intentionally, and so she stopped looking.

"Is this it Nyssa?" Katie asked standing up a bit straighter, gripping the knife in her hand. "Because I have to tell you, I'm not going back easily." she heard a slight chuckle from the darkness.

"I'm only here to pass along a message Nura and then I'm afraid we shall not lay eyes on each until your feet once again step through the doors of your true home." Nyssa said and Katie felt a chill creep down her spine. "He wants you to know he's waiting for you."

"I'm never going back there."

"You say that as if you have a say in the matter." the assassin replied, and then Katie the rustling of leaves, and a swift wind and she she just knew Nyssa was gone.

Katie stood there, letting the woman's words, the implications, and promise she held when she spoke them resonate and something happened. She felt her entire body start to shake uncontrollably, the knife falling from her hand as she stumbles back slightly falling against the door. Katie assumed the emotions she had buried deep inside her were locked down tight, but this moment was proving her wrong. She heard the sound of the front door open and just like that, the mask of a well adjusted young woman slipped back on. She stepped back into the house and walked over to the refrigerator, glancing inside as if the last few moments had never happened.

"Huh." came a voice from behind her and she stood up and looked over to see Oliver standing there just staring at her. "I kind of had a lot to say, but I didn't expect to find you wearing—" he let his eyes scan over the barely there clothing, still trying to form sentences. His eyes came back to hers and then he shook his head. "We need to talk."

"We had an agreement." Katie replied turning back to search the fridge for food. "This is our neutral zone. Why don't we have any food?" she asked looking over her shoulder to the man. "We may actually have to go shopping again." she walked over to a drawer pulling it open to reveal an array of take out menus. "So, Chinese, or pizza?"

"Ok." Oliver said and Katie glanced up to him with a furrowed brow.

"Ok what? Pizza or Chinese?" Oliver simply walked over to her and plucked the menus from her hands and placed himself in front of her never tearing his eyes from her.

"I know we had an agreement, but I need to say this. I love you Katherine Robins and I'm always afraid something is just going to take you away from me and I've never felt that for anyone." He grabbed her hand and placed it above his heart and she could feel the rapid thumps underneath her fingers. "I know how easy it can be to slip on that mask, and how easily you can just slip away, and I don't want that to happen to you. I don't think I could take that happening to you. I just want you to be Twinkie." he grabbed her hand in his and smiled. "My Twinkie." he shook his head slightly. "But you're more than that and I think I've been trying to ignore it. Ignore how good you are, so ok. This city can use all the help it can get and I'm not the one to turn it down." Oliver took a step back and held out a hand for her to shake. "If you will still consider it, I would like very much to have Nura watch my back." Katie stood there in a shocked silence, glancing down to the hand in front of her. _  
"_No." Katie said suddenly, and she didn't miss the confusion that washed over Oliver's face. "You were right before. About what you said about Nura. She's the creation of the demon...his monster and it's time I finally end her."

"So who would be watching my back?" Oliver asked and Katie turned away in thought for a few moments, before turning to him with wide eyes and finally grabbing his hand.

"Your Guardian." Katie said with a smile, that Oliver could only return. He pulled her hand, pulling her body closer to his as he wrapped his hands around her waist. "Thanks for giving this a shot."

"I don't think I really had a choice."

"You didn't, but thanks anyway." Katie replied as Oliver dipped his head to meet her lips. The moment was almost perfect until both heard the unexpected sound of the front door opening. Both found themselves standing up straight, and on the ready for anything. Well almost anything.

"Hey where are you guys?!" called a familiar voice and they both just sighed before Oliver's sister walked into the kitchen and she wasn't alone. "Oh there you are. They’re in the kitchen!" Katie and Oliver looked at the woman in confusion as they heard the footsteps of someone else nearing and suddenly Roy appeared with pizza boxes in hand.

"What's up guys." Roy greeted sitting the boxes down before looking over to Oliver and then Katie, his eyes staying on the woman a little bit longer. "Are you—" Katie moved to hide behind Oliver, since she was still half naked in the kitchen. Roy's eyes went to Oliver's, making them wince at the look he was giving him. "I should probably wait out there."

"Good idea Roy." Oliver said as the young man turned and hurried from the kitchen. "Thea, what did I say about the key!"

"Only emergencies, I know, but we were hungry and thought hey why not have a surprise double date with Liver and Twinkie." Thea replied walking over to one of the cabinets to grab plates.

"Strike two Thea Queen." Katie said with a shake of her head. "Strike three, I'm taking my key back."

"Like I haven't made copies." the young woman muttered and Katie just shook her head. "Hey, you guys wouldn't have happened to have found a pair of green socks would you?" Thea turned to the couple. "Roy's been bitching about those damn socks, because apparently they're his lucky socks. I think I may have thrown them in the laundry here when they were starting reek." Katie and Oliver just stared blankly at the woman. "So...have you seen them?"

"We could bury her in the back yard, no one would find her there." Katie suggested looking over to Oliver. "I mean I'm sure you would miss your sister, but—"

"It would be necessary." Oliver said with a nod, glancing over to Katie. "I agree, but I think we should just find away to get rid of the body all together, maybe like a fire or—"

"Chemicals that disintegrates the body leaving nothing behind." Katie said and Oliver nodded at they both turned to the confused Thea.

"You guys are so weird." Thea replied with a roll of her eyes as she headed out of the kitchen. "Ollie grab the pizzas, and Twinkie, put on some clothes!"

"Your sister is satan."

"I've told my parents and they just didn't believe me." Oliver replied with a shake of his head. "But I guess we've now solved the green sock mystery."

"Yeah, yeah. Now we may have to change the locks." Katie said heading for the kitchen stairs, but stopping and running back to hide behind Oliver.

"Ok, what is happening?" Oliver asked.

"I think I saw a spider, I'm not sure, but it could be there and you need to kill it." Katie said still using Oliver's body as a shield. He looked over his shoulder with a quirked brow. "I know, I've actually killed people before, but I'm telling you that spiders just have not been ok for me. Now please, kill it, kill it, kill it." Oliver turned back to the stairs, a smile tugging at his lips as searches for his Guardian's spider.

Felicity was nervous. She hadn't heard from Bruce all day and every attempt she made to call him, just ended up being some neurotic voice message on his answering machine. This was unlike him and she was really starting to worry. When she arrived at her apartment that night, she searched around a bit for any sign of Bruce anywhere. When there was none, she plopped down on her couch. Her phone suddenly rang and she quickly answer.

"Bruce?"

_"Yeah, it's me. Sorry I'm just now returning your calls."_

"Damn right you should be sorry. I've been worried sick about you."

_"Yeah, I got that from your voice mails. I think one of them you actually said you would call the president to start a search party. Can you really do that?"_

"If I told you I would have to kill you, now where the hell are you?"

_"I'm in Gotham. There have been things happening here and it was only right that I came back."_

"Why didn't you tell me? You didn't just have to disappear."

_"Well I'm not good with goodbyes and I'm almost positive that I wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to you Felicity."_

Felicity found a slight smile at that, but it fell once again.

"How long will you be gone?"

_"That's just it. I don't know. There's this guy in the city causing a lot of trouble and no one can even seem to find him."_

"You know I think I was reading something about that." Felicity said pulling her laptop from her bag and quickly typing a few keys. "This guy who calls himself the Joker."

_"Yeah, I thought he would've been caught by now, but it would seem he's good at keeping himself hidden."_ Bruce sighed.

"Well do you need help. From what I've read, this guy is psychotic." Felicity replied scrolling through one of the articles. "I could—"

_"I think it would be best if I handled this one on my own._" Bruce replied.

"Oh." the woman's tone was full offense, and Bruce heard it. "Well then—"

_"Felicity—"_

"No, if you work better alone, then I will leave you to it." the woman replied before ending the call and tossing her phone aside.

Felicity scrolled through the article, before hacking into Gotham's police database on the Joker. Her eyes widened at the things she read.

"Sorry Bruce, but you're gonna need help." Felicity grabbed her phone and stood to her feet, dialing a number as she headed to her bedroom. "Hi, yes, when is your next flight to Gotham City?"


	17. ISLAND OF LOST LESSONS

**Chapter 17**

**ISLAND OF LOST LESSONS**

_"What's meant to be will always find a way"_

_-Trisha Yearwood_

* * *

This was it.

The perfect time.

Oliver's hand gripped the small box in his pocket as he looked over to Katie who was staring up at a wall of pictures.

"Marlo, tell me the truth." she said glancing over to the gray haired man next to her. "Is that really Robert De Niro?" the man chuckled with a nod.

"I'm telling you the truth. He came in one night, ordered a pepperoni and said it was the best pizza he'd ever tasted." Marlo replied and Katie just shook her head as she turned to the pictures. Her eyes landed on a familiar photo of her father, and herself that was taken so many years ago. She reached up and let her fingers slide across the glass. "You know some times I still stay open a little late on Fridays." Katie glanced over to the man. "Out of habit you know." Katie simply smiled as the man nodded before turning and heading back into the kitchen.

Her eyes stared at the picture for a while, before she felt strong arms wrap around her from behind. She smiled as she let herself fall back into his grasp.

"This was a better date." Oliver said against her neck as he trailed soft kisses along her skin. "If anyone asks this was our first date."

"Deal." Katie sighed as her eyes fluttered closed at the feeling of his lips.

"There's something I want to ask you." Oliver said and Katie simply nodded. "So I know we had this plan that we were going to wait before we made that next step, but it's just I don't see the point. For me, you're it." Katie pulled from his grasp and turned to face him. "So why wait anymore?" Oliver took a deep breath before taking a step back and falling to one knee.

"Oh my God." Katie whispered as Oliver held her hand in his. "Oliver—"

"One night I was forced to have dinner with one of my dad's business buddies and that same night I unknowingly met the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

"Oliver—"

"Sure she's annoying at times, and tells horrible jokes and she can't cook to save her life." Oliver laughed slightly as he looked up to Katie's eyes that seemed to be glistening with unshed tears. "But I don't think I've love anyone as much as I love you. So Katherine Robins will you—"

"Oliver stop." Katie says dropping to her knees in front of him and placing her hands on his shoulders."I'm sorry."

"Twinkie, what—" there was a sudden sound of a bird chirping and Oliver glanced up to find the source.

"I wish this was real too." Katie said and Oliver turned back to her noticing how far away she seemed be getting.

And that's when it happened. Oliver's eyes snapped open, immediately seeing nothing but a blue sky above him. He turned his head seeing that he was surrounded by nothing but trees. Oliver quickly jumped to his feet, a move that proved a bad one when he stumbled a bit. His hand shot to the back of his head that felt like he was hit by a truck. He spun around, finally realizing why the place around him seemed so familiar.

"Mr. Queen, good you're awake." a voice spoke from somewhere. Oliver spun trying to find a source, but he couldn't find one. "Before you ask, no, I'm not there with you. I'm sitting comfortably, as far away from your hellish island as possible." Oliver stopped searching and just stood there." So how does it feel to be back there? I know you came back when you decided to punish yourself, but I would figure this time is a little different." Oliver closed his eyes trying to remember the moments before waking up on this island and suddenly a face flashed in his mind.

"Katie."

"That's right Mr. Queen." a voice said, Oliver now recognizing the British accent in the man's words.

"You said—you said that you would leave her alone." Oliver replied still trying to get his bearings.

"You are correct Mr. Queen, but my boss had other plans you see. It was always supposed to happen here. You were supposed to ask her to join you on your little boat trip, and you were both supposed to end up here. There are lessons on this island. Many you have found, and many you have yet to find, but for our dear Ms. Robins, there are bigger lessons here for her." There was a sudden sound of a gun shot that echoed through the trees and Oliver spun around. "That is if she lives to actually learn them." And just like that, Oliver had awaken from heaven only to end up back in hell. "Welcome back to Lian Yu Mr. Queen."

Katie was one hundred percent aware of her surroundings at the moment. Just moments earlier, her eyes opened and she found herself in the middle of nothing but trees, but that wasn't her problem right now. She had jumped to her feet and suddenly there was a gun shot that barely missed her. Katie ran in the opposite direction of the bullet, hoping to at least lose the shooter. She had no idea where she was, but her eyes and ears were open to everything happening around her until she stopped to catch her breath. She stood behind a tree to see if she could hear anyone following. Soon, the focus she had traveled back to the last lucid memory she could gather.

_Katie's heart was beating fast as she held onto Oliver while they dropped through the glass ceiling of the warehouse, right in the middle of a drug exchange. The moment they did, the men around them pull out their guns and so Katie and Oliver moved quickly. Soon bullets, arrows and knives were flying and it would seem that bringing arrows and knives to a gun fight had actually been a good idea. Soon the only two people standing were Katie and Oliver, both exhausted and out of breath. _

_"Digg, we got the last of the Vertigo." Oliver spoke through his ear piece. _

_"Good, the police are on their way to clean up the bad guys." John spoke. "Good job guys." _

_Oliver turned to Katie who looked around the warehouse as if searching for something. He watched her closely as she slipped a knife from her vest and suddenly shot it in the darkness of the warehouse. He was about to ask her what she was doing when he heard a grunt from that exact spot. They both ran over where they saw a man standing with a knife in his arm. He was about to reach for his gun when Oliver aimed an arrow right at him. _

_"For the first time today, do something smart." _

_Soon the pair stood on the roof of the building across from the warehouse watching the police cart away the criminals and their drugs. _

_"Tell me again how you knew that guy was there?" Oliver asked and Katie chuckled looking over to him. "And don't say it's the meditation, because I would never hear the end of it from John." _

_"Sorry Arrow, but it really does help heighten those senses." Katie replied walking over to the ladder as Oliver followed behind her. "Plus no one does a drug deal without having some back up in case something goes bad." _

_"So just one guy?" _

_"There were probably more, but they were smart enough to run away." Katie replied as she climbed down the ladder. "Which I'm sure we will have to worry about another day." _

_"Hey, you did good out there." Oliver said as his feet touched the ground as well. _

_"I know." Katie replied a bit offended that he would assume she wouldn't. _

_"I didn't mean it like you wouldn't, but you know I was sort of on the fence about this, and these past couple of nights you're really holding your own." _

_"I know that too." Katie replied with a shake of her head before turning and heading down the alley over to Oliver's bike. _

_"I didn't mean that in bad way." Oliver said moving to catch up to the woman. "I'm trying to compliment you." she glanced over to him with a quirked brow. "Why are you making this so hard?" _

_"Because I love to see you squirm Liver." Katie replied with a smirk, that suddenly fell as she began looking around. "Do you smell that?" Oliver sniffed the air and did smell something weird. Both began to feel extremely disoriented, stumbling as they walked. _

_"Katie—" Oliver tried to reach for Katie, but her misstep caused her to fall to the ground. Katie looked up, lucid enough to see the men headed their way before everything just disappeared._

Katie let her eyes roam through the trees, attempting to see something familiar. She had to be at some old campground or something near Starling, but she had no idea. There was a strange sound in the distance. Like water. She glanced over her shoulder, before heading in the direction of the sound in hopes that she could figure out where the hell she was.

Her feet froze in place when Katie found the source of the sound and she was right it was water. It was just no body of water like this was even close to Starling. Katie looked out and saw nothing but water as far as her eyes could see.

"You're on an island." Katie whispered to herself, hoping that saying it would help it become more believable. "Island?" her face furrowed in confusion and then it suddenly stuck her. With her luck and the type of people who have been after her lately, this could only be one place. Katie turned back around and let her eyes scan over the island. "You're on Lian Yu."

Clark Kent trailed behind Lois who always seemed to move impossibly fast in such high heels. He sifted, and weaved through the bustling Starling police station as the woman tried her hardest to get through to the captain.

"But sir, I don't think you understand what this could possibly mean." Lois said.

"Actually I do. You're trying to convince me to investigate a woman whose pretty much been a saint to this city. Her father has helped some of our local businesses thrive and her mother was a big influence in the charity presence in this city before she died."

"I know how it sounds, sir, trust me, but there is more—"

"Ms. Lane, I applaud a good story with the rest of them, but I just think there isn't one here. You should just head on home and worry about your flying man in tights." and with that the man turned and went back into his office. Lois lets out a huff and turned back to Clark.

"Can you believe that?"

"I know." Clark replied. "They're not tights, I think I read somewhere that they're like some kind of alien material from wherever he came from." he met Lois' confused eyes. "Which is way cooler right?"

"Clark get over your man crush on Superman and focus right now." Lois snapped. "Our story is getting shot down before it can even get off the ground."

"Maybe there is a reason for that Lois." Clark replied. "Look I came with you here because I think you'd get in way too much trouble by yourself, but the truth is I don't think there is a story here."

"C'mon Clark. Katherine Robins, a woman who has connections to some of the wealthiest men in the world, who we found out was kidnapped and held captive by terrorists for years, father murdered by his doctor, mother committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. There is a story here Clark, I know it and I will—" Lois' eyes turned and she saw the key to her story. "Bingo." and with that she hurried off. Clark turned watching with a quirked brow as the woman walked over to a uniformed officer before going to follow. "Quentin Lance, right?" the man turned to the woman, looking between her and Clark. "Lois Lane, reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet."

"Well Lois Lane, reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet, what the hell are you doing in Starling?" Lance replied glancing back down to the file in his hand.

"Katherine Robins." Lois answered and the man looked at her with a quirked brow and a smile came to the woman's face. "There was an investigation into her connection to a rash of crimes that surrounded her when she arrived back here last year."

"Who told you that?"

"I have a lot of friends detective."

"It's officer, and Ms. Lane I'm not one of those friends." Lance replied about to turn and leave.

"You dropped the investigation. Did you really not find anything suspicious connecting her to those crimes?"

"There was no connection, that's why all investigations into Dr. Robins were dropped." Lance replied about to leave again when the woman once again stopped him.

"And what do you think? In your gut?" Lois asked and the officer sighed dropping the file on his desk and turning to the woman.

"You're not from around here Ms. Lane, so I understand you may not know how things work around here, but we are police officers. We follow the evidence, and only move with the law. There was no evidence that connected Ms. Robins to any of the crimes that occurred—"

"And her father's murder?" Lois interrupted and the man looked at her like he was crazy. "According to public record, a Dr. Michael Trent received a large sum of money the day Jacob Robins was pronounced dead."

"Your point?"

"My point is that the source of that money was never found and the exact cause of death was never determined. I'm sure if two doctors put their heads together—"

"I'm sorry Ms. Lane are you standing there and accusing Ms. Robins of killing her own father, because if you are, I'm telling you're off base."

"Why, because you've had a change of heart?"

"No, because I was the one who told her about the circumstances surrounding her father's death. I saw that look in her eyes when she found out that he didn't die naturally. That wasn't the look of a murderer."

"Well officer, if you move and shake by the law then it is your duty to finally bring a close to this case."

"I'm sorry Ms. Lane, but I don't work for you." Lance replied turning and walking away.

"Yeah, but when I write the story about how the good boys of the Starling City PD did not look under every rock to find the killer of the man who practically built this city, I think you may be singing a different tune." Lois said and Lance stopped walking and turned to the woman. "All I want is answers."

"No you want a head on stick. You're looking for blood here Ms. Lane, and if you're not careful you will get it, and it may not be what you expected."

"I'm a reporter Officer Lance. I'm not looking for blood, just the truth and for some reason I think Starling is busting at the seems with hidden secrets." the woman glanced down to her watch. "It's still early."

"And?" Lance asked.

"Well you should have enough time to call whoever you need to call to exhume Jacob Robins’ body to have a complete autopsy done." Lois said with a smile as she pulled her purse on her arm. "We're reopening this case, and we're going to find the truth." and with that the woman looked over to her partner who was stunned in silence. "C'mon Clark." the woman turned and sauntered off. Clark looked over to Lance with an apologetic smile before turning and rushing off after his partner.

John stood in the middle of the deserted alley way staring down to Oliver's busted up motorcycle. He glanced over his shoulder at the impending footsteps.

"I see tire tracks and there are footprints, but other than that there's nothing here." Sara said walking beside John and looking down to the bike.

"There's also the smell." John replied and Sara sniffed air. She didn't notice the off smell, but tossed it off to just weird alley smells. "That rank, rancid smell."

"Well we are in an alley."

"Yeah, but I've smelled it before." the man replied glancing over to Sara. "Back when I was in the army. It's a compound we used to incapacitate our enemies. It knocked them out." John turned back to the bike and sighed. "I'm afraid the same thing has happened to them."

"You have an idea who could've done this?"

"One, but I'm going to have to talk to Lyla." John replies with a shake of his head before looking over to Sara. "She's a friend who has connections."

"So what do we do?"

"Head back to the lair, see if we can find anything on any surveillance footage from last night."

"Can you do that?"

"I think I can, but I'll call Felicity if I need help." John replied before reaching down and grabbing Oliver's bike. "You want to go bring the van closer." Sara simply nodded before running back to the van.

Katie didn't know much about the island she was currently on, because Oliver was very tight lipped about the subject. He may have mentioned things every once in a while, but nothing she felt that prepared her for this. Felicity did mention the landmines her and John ran into when they came to get Oliver, which is why Katie was moving carefully. Her eyes kept scanning the area, because at the moment she knew there was someone with a gun on this island who has nearly killed her once, and then there's the fact that Oliver may also be on this island somewhere. Right now the only sounds she heard came from birds and bugs, and she had absolutely no idea where she was going.

After what seemed like hours of aimless walking, Katie finally heard something. Something that caused her feet to stop walking. It was the sound of a gun being cocked.

"And here I was thinking this was going to be hard." came an accented voice from behind her. Katie rose her hands in surrender before turning to an unfamiliar Asian man with a prominent scar across his cheek. Her eyes went to the semi automatic gripped tightly in his hands and aimed at her.

"Who are you?" Katie asked watching the man closely.

"I'm the man who was offered a lot of money to put a bullet in the little girl roaming about this island." the man replied with a slight smirk. Katie noticed the sweat dripping from his face and his dirty clothes, assuming he'd probably been searching for a while.

"Offered money?" Katie said with a shake of her head. "Let me guess, man with a British accent, has a thing for rabbits?"

"Doesn't matter, because you're dying." the man replied lifting his gun.

"And then you're dying." Katie replied before dropping her eyes to the man's feet to the landmine he'd just stepped on. "And I'm almost positive your death will hurt more than mine."

The man looked down to his feet and felt the metal plate underneath. He closed his eyes as if trying to think up a way to get out of this, but he knew there wasn't. Not one he could do on his own.

"Put down the gun and I will help you." she said and the man looked over to her as if she were crazy. "You know it's your only choice." she heard him let out a growl before tossing the gun on the ground. Katie smiled slightly before walking toward him, only for a metal to suddenly come under her feet. "Aw shit." the frown on the man's face deepen as they both stood on top of landmines, a gun between them.

They both stood across from each other just glaring at each other. Katie realized she was going to have to say something if she was going to find out what was going on.

"So are there more of you?" Katie finally asked, but the man didn't say a word. Katie let her eyes look him over. He had a larger build which was mostly muscle, and she noticed the tattoos along his arms. "I think there's something different about you than there was with the others." she met his eyes once again. "I'm thinking experience. You're supposed to be a next level of killer right? A bigger challenge for me."

"When I find a way off of this thing—"

"Sure, when you do then kill me, but now, I need to know what the hell is going on. Like why are there crazy people out there who feel the need to give me these fucked up lessons where people try to kill me."

"Oh trust me, I will not try."

"Well if this lesson is like any of the others, then you have no allies here meaning anyone who does find us will probably kill us both." Katie said and the man turned away slightly. "So right now you can make a choice, you can help me, make the last thing you do matter."

"What's the point if we're both dead?" he replied letting out a sigh as he glances down to his feet. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not one to postpone the inevitable." The man made a move to walk, but stopped when he heard the sound of a gun. He lifted his head to see a gun man standing behind Katie.

"Don't move." the gun man said taking a couple of steps forward. Katie tried looking over her shoulder to see the man's face. "Kun Lao, is that you?" the gunman chuckled as he walked closer. "Haven't seen you since Paris." he glanced down to the man's feet, seeing the landmine and laughed. "And now you've made the rookie mistake of not looking where you walk."

"Oh laugh it up Kain, but when I find a way off of this thing—"

"If you find a way off, I will be long gone, she will be dead, and I will be ten million dollars richer." Kain replied turning to face Katie, his gun still aimed at her. Katie looked at the man over as well. He wore a fatigued army vest, and the face paint on his face. She looked between the two men and a sudden realization hit her.

"You're mercenaries." Katie stated and Kain simply laughed as he moved to stand in front of her, making sure his gun was right to her chest.

"You know I don't get it. Why three highly trained mercs for one little girl." he said with a shake of his head. "But who am I to question—" in a move he neither expected or even believed could happen, Katie grabbed the front of the man's gun and pulled him forward with it. She dropped to the ground when he tried to shoot her, and noticed his feet about to move.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Katie said before glancing down to the man's feet to see his feet now on the landmine. "I think you just found out why all you mercs for little ole me." the man lifted his gun and Katie turned and ran, missing the bullets coming her way.

Sara stood behind John, realizing a long time ago that the man had absolutely no idea what he was doing as he sat in front of the computer. He seemed to be pecking random keys with a finger, and cursing every error message that appeared.

"Maybe we should try Felicity again." she suggested and John just groaned in annoyance.

"I've tried multiple times, and nothing. I even tried Bruce and no answer. The only person I did talk to was Bruce's butler Alfred, who says he's going to let Master Wayne and Ms. Smoak know I called when they return."

"Should we be worried about her too?" Sara asked and John just shook his head.

"Right now, I'm assuming Bruce is watching out for her. Or at least the Batman."

"We assumed the same thing from the Arrow, and look where that got us." Sara muttered when she suddenly heard footsteps coming down the basement stairs. Both she and John turned to see the familiar face of Lyla Michaels.

"You got my message." John says standing to his feet and walking over to the woman. "So, is this ARGUS?"

"No." Lyla says glancing over to Sara. John followed her eyes and realized the two women didn't know each other.

"Oh, Lyla, Sara—" he glanced over to Sara. "This is Lyla. She works for ARGUS." John turned back to Lyla for more information. "Any idea who took them?"

"One, and it's a very small theory." Lyla said walking around John over to one of the computers where she took a seat and began typing. Suddenly a familiar picture appeared on the screen that confused both Sara and John. "I think you've seen this before." Sara and John moved in closer to see the familiar image of the train station where Katie was kidnapped. The screen was on the man who took her, whose face was only partially visible.

"Yeah, it's the only image we have of the man who was behind Katie's kidnapping." John replied looking over to the woman. "She doesn't recognize him."

"Well she wouldn't." Lyla replied turning and pulling up another image. This one seeming to be a surveillance photo of a man stepping off of a plane. She zoomed in closer to the image to show the man. "This was taken a couple of months ago at Starling Airport.

"Is that the same guy?" Sara asked and Lyla nodded. "Do you know who he is?"

"No, because that is not his face." Lyla replied looking at the image. "We have sent this image through every facial recognition software we have access to and nothing."

"What do you mean it's not his face?" John asked and Lyla zoomed in on the image to show visible scarring under his neck. "That tells us that he has had some kind of facial reconstructive surgery. Which is why we're having a tough time identifying him."

"So you think he's the one behind Oliver and Katie's disappearance?"

"At the moment I'm not sure what to think, but all evidence points to this no named guy." Lyla replies standing to her feet. "And ARGUS wants him, so Waller has assigned me to assist you find Katie and Oliver. You get your friends and we get a ghost we've been searching for."

"So where do we start?" Sara asks looking between the two who share a look. They were asking themselves that same question, still trying to find an answer, though it was John who had one idea.

"Bruce's program." John says turning and going back over to the computer. "Maybe it can pick up either Katie, Oliver, or our nameless friend's face."

Lian Yu was a large island. Katie was realizing this fact more and more with every step she took seemed to bring her nowhere. She stopped once again to catch her breath and searched for something that could tell her where she needed to go. Her eyes glanced to the sky, noticing its setting. She was going to lose it soon and she has no idea what she's going to do on this island when night comes.

_"Ironic isn't it."_ a voice spoke, that Katie chose to ignore. Mostly because it was from the voice in her head that never seemed to go away. _"You ending up right here. On Lian Yu, with Lian Yu."_Katie shook her head still ignoring him and searching for her way out. "_We never did cover survival in the wild. If we did, you'd know about landmarks and which direction the sun should be, what side the moss grows on. You're totally and completely lost. If the demon could see you now—"_

"Would you shut up!" Katie snapped angrily turning to the figment of her imagination. She tried her best to not acknowledge it, to never converse with it, but right now she was lost and all alone, and it was all she had. "Just stop talking for once. I don't need you here telling me I'm a monster, or that I'm going to die, or that I'm probably never going to get off of this island, because I know all of that! So please just stop talking." Her outburst only seemed to make it laugh.

"_Lian Yu, with Yian Yu." _it taunted once more before she turned back to him about to go off again when she spotted something in the distance. She tilted her head slightly trying to make out what it was, but she couldn't tell from where she was standing. She would have to get closer and so she ran over.

"A plane." Katie muttered finally getting a good look at the thing. It was old and looked as if it had been there for a while. Katie cautiously walked inside, her eyes scanning for something that could help her escape. There was nothing, but plants that seemed to be swallowing the plane. There were signs that someone was here, from what looked like cots and blankets. "Alright, I can stay here until morning." she glanced around in hope of food, but she knew that was a long shot. "How the hell did Oliver eat on this damn island?" she walked to the door of the plane and looked out to see the birds flying from the tree and she grimaced. "A night with out a meal will not kill you." Katie just shook her head before turning back inside the plane.

Oliver Queen stood in a position he wishes he wasn't in because it made him vulnerable to a side of himself that he swore to never entertain again. There were two men standing in front of him, both on landmines and both knowing something about where Katie was, but neither would say a word.

"She's dead kid." the man on his left said. He was American, definitely some kind of military. Actually both men seemed to be from some kind of military, which didn't ease his mind since he's sure there's one more of them out there. "You might as well—" Oliver walked over and picked up on of their guns. "Sorry kid no bullets in mine." the man chuckled when Oliver pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Oliver just tossed down the gun and glanced over to the other gun.

"What about yours, huh?" Oliver asked walking over and picking up the other gun. He shot a round into the air before aiming at the man who seemed to be the talker of the pair. "Who hired you!"

"What's the point? I'm going to die from that bullet or this bomb underneath my feet because of that bitch." Kain said with a shake of his head. "I hope she's filled with bullet holes right now." Oliver felt his fingers on the gun twitch. There was a version of Oliver that would not even hesitate to shoot the man, but he restrained himself. Oliver turned the gun to the other man who had been quiet the entire time.

"Where is she?"

"She's dead just like the rest of us." Kun replied with a shake of his head.

"Well one of you isn't dead." Oliver says dropping the gun back to his side. "One of those mines is a dud."

"And how do you know that?" Kain asked and Oliver looked over to him.

"I spent years on this island. I know every inch of land here and I also knew where to walk. One of you is standing on a dud. Tell me where she went and I'll tell you which one." The two men shared a look for a moment before turning back to Oliver.

"If you're lying—"

"I don't lie." Oliver lied.

"She went that way." Kain said pointing beyond the trees. "She may have found that old plane and buckled down there." Oliver looked in the direction and simply nodded before walking off. "Hey, which one is the dud!"

"The one on the left!" Oliver called back. Both men turned back to each other with a look of confusion.

"His left or our left?" Kain asked.

That night Katie found herself crouched in a corner of the plane. She was almost positive the cots were infested with insects and so she decided to find the cleanest part of the plane. Her knees were to her chest and her eyes were closed. She'd never been so tired before, and she really didn't want to fall asleep, since she's still sure the world inside her head was still worse than the crap storm she was in now. Soon it wouldn't be her choice anymore, because her body just couldn't stay awake for one more minute.

_Katie paced she small confines of her room, glancing over to the door ever so often. She feels as if she'd been here for days, when in reality it's only been a couple of hours. She still couldn't believe that she was back here. For a few moments there she felt like she was moving forward, closer to home and in the blink of an eye she was back in hell. There was movement outside the door and Katie stopped moving and stood up straight. It was when the door open did she see a face she did not expect. _

_"Mr. Ellis?" she said in shock. _

_"Please call me Martin, after all this I think we can lose the formalities." the man said before waving her to him. "Quickly, we need to leave." Katie didn't move from her spot. "Like now." _

_"I'm sorry the last time I saw you, you had a gun pointed at me and you gave me my initiating contract into this league of murderers. So excuse me if I'm not jumping at the chance to follow you right now." _

_"Look, Katherine, I know our past is...different, but I promise you that right now, I'm helping you." He glanced down to his watch. "And we have a very narrow window here, so please—" he glanced back to her. "If this is some sort of trap, then at least you won't be here." Katie stared at him for a moment and realized he was right. She really needed to leave this fortress, and if he could get her a way out, then she would take it. "Come on, we don't have much time." the man turned and walked from the room, and against all reason, Katie followed him. _

_The halls were dim, only illuminated by the lanterns against the wall. It was the emptiness of the halls that caught her attention. There were usually league members walking along the halls all the time. She suddenly heard the sound of distant gun fire. _

_"What's going on?" _

_"A distraction that can hopefully help get us to our plane." Martin said moving quickly down the hall. His feet suddenly came to a halt when two of Ra's league ran up. Martin quickly pulled a gun from behind him and turned it to the men. Katie watched him closely, and noticed how his hand shook. She simply shook her head before reaching forward and taking the gun from his hand. "You know how to use that?" _

_"Yeah." Katie says watching the two men in front of her very closely. _

Katie had developed many instincts during her time away home. One of those instincts was the reason she awaken so quickly. It's how she knew there was someone standing right in front of her before she even opened her eyes. Once she did, Katie lifted her head in the darkness to see a man who she could barely make out. She could however see the weapon in his hands aimed right at her.

"Assassin number three I presume." she muttered choosing to keep her eyes on the gun.

"To your feet, slowly. Any sudden movements—"

"And you shoot me?" she asked as she stood to her feet. "Isn't that the plan?"

"No the plan is to do it quickly. But I can make it slow and I can make it hurt." He said as he took a couple of steps back. "Outside."

"Why?"

"Because they need to see. Those are the rules, now go!" Katie lifted her hands slightly before turning and moving slowly back outside. There was absolutely no one else around and she figured there probably wasn't. She was going to die on this island and no one was going to know. "Turn around." she did as she was told, and this time when she laid eyes upon the man she could see that his build wasn't like the others. He wasn't all muscle, but he was a fairly thin man.

"You're not like the other two." she said more to herself, but the man heard her and laughed. "Why?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that I am going to kill you now." He rose his gun and Katie closed her eyes not wanting to see the bullet. She also didn't want that man's face to be the last thing she sees and so she pictures the one face that takes away the fear in this moment. It's Oliver, it's always Oliver. And so as she waits for her end, it's him she chooses for her last few moments. Suddenly there is a gun shot and Katie jumps and waits for the pain, but for some reason there isn't any. She opens her eyes and looks down to her body to see no wounds. There is a grunt, and Katie lifts her head to see the man wrestling with someone she can't quite see on the ground. She could see a gun between the men, both trying to take it from the other. Katie only took one step before that gun went off and everything just stopped. That time she felt it. The moment the bullet pierced her abdomen, it was as if the whole world just went on mute, because no sound made it to her ears. She dropped her eyes to her hand that was pressed against her stomach. Katie lifted her eyes back to the men to see the fight was suddenly over, and the winner looked over to her.

"Liver." she whispered, and then it seem the world moved and she dropped to her knees. Oliver practically ran, sliding on his knees to grab her before she could hit the ground.

"Hey, Twinkie, I'm right here." Oliver said, his arms holding on to her. He looked down, barely able to see a wound in the darkness. He slid a hand down her side, able to feel the blood seeping from her skin. The bullet went in, but it didn't feel like it came out. "Alright, I'm going to fix this." Oliver hoisted the woman in his arms, his eyes scanning the area trying to figure out where he needed go. He looked down to the woman in his arms before placing a kiss on top her head. "Don't worry I got you."

_The gun in Katie's hand was still smoking as she watched the last member of the league fall to his death. There was a tingling feeling in her fingers, and a sickening feeling in her stomach, but there was no other reaction to the sight. She didn't shake or shed a tear at the lives that ended at her hand, and that scared her.  
_

_"C'mon we have to go." Martin said, not focusing too much on the death as he moved past Katie down the hall. Katie felt as if she'd been down these halls a million times, and at this moment had no idea where they were going. She would glance over to Martin who made each step knowing exactly where he was going. They made it to a dark staircase, that Katie was sure she'd never been before. Once they made it to the top, they burst through a door that brought them above the fortress. Katie's eyes first went to the helicopter seeming to be waiting for their arrival, but her attention was soon turned to the gun fire that was now louder. She walked to the edge of the roof, and looked down to see a massive battle between Ra's League, and what looked like soldiers. Suddenly she saw familiar face in all the madness. Nyssa looked up to her, the darkness in her eyes clear even in the distance. "We have to leave." Martin grabbed Katie's arm and pulled her toward the plane. Once inside, Katie's eyes looked down to her hell. She was finally leaving...again. Her eyes looked over to Martin who at some point had taken out his cell phone and now had it pressed against his ear, speaking in hushed tones. She'd left her hell, she just wasn't sure where she was going was going to be any better._

Katie's eyes snapped open, and the moment they did, the events before the darkness came flooding back. The island, the mercenaries, Oliver.

"Oliver!" Katie jumped up, but soon wished she hadn't when she felt the sudden soreness along her stomach.

"Hey, I'm right here." Oliver said appearing beside Katie. "Lay back down." Katie took a deep breath as she complied. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got shot." Katie said lifting her head slightly to try to see the wound. "It doesn't hurt that much—" she looked up to Oliver who slightly shrugged. "But I guess that would be the wondrous island herbs you probably have hidden away. How did you get the bullet out?"

"You don't want to know." Oliver replied and Katie looked over to him.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?"

"Because you're here because of me. Because you're back on this damn island, fighting with assassins because of me." Katie closes her eyes and turned away. "I'm officially a trouble magnet."

"Well I sort of seek out the trouble." Oliver replied and Katie turned to him as he moved the hair from her face. "It's what I do."

"You're such a dork."

"Yeah, but I'm your dork." he replied before noticing her shivering. "Cold?"

"I'm fine." Katie said, but it didn't stop Oliver from sliding along side of her and bringing an arm around her, pulling her closer to his body. "So where are we right now?" Katie's eyes scanned what looked like a cave that was illuminated by a fire.

"A place that has saved my life many times while I was here." Oliver replied.

"So what now?"

"I don't know. I tied our friend with the gun to a tree, and I'm pretty sure our other friends haven't moved from their landmines."

"This was supposed to be another lesson, but I didn't learn anything here. I wandered around aimlessly, was eaten alive by bugs and was shot." Katie said with a shake of her head as snuggles in closer to Oliver's chest. "I don't know where I would be if you weren't here."

"He spoke to me." Oliver said and Katie lifted her eyes to him. "The British guy who likes to wear the rabbit mask. There was some intercom set up where I woke up." Oliver shook his head still not even sure how that was possible. "But he said you were always suppose to end up here."

"And how exactly would that have happen?" Katie muttered and Oliver looked away, looking up to the shadow of the dancing flames.

"Because I was going to ask you to come with me." Oliver replied and Katie's eyes widen. "The day me and my dad were to sail out, everything was perfect. Sara was going to join me and Laurel was blissfully ignorant to it all." Katie dropped her eyes because the actions of the old Oliver are still something she just doesn't like. "I know I used to be an ass, not the point. That morning I heard my mom and Thea talking about visiting the Robins and when I asked why, Thea said it was because you were back from college and then everything wasn't so perfect."

"What do you mean?"

“I had thought about you all the time when you left for college. Probably too much and so I thought I would try to distract myself."

"With multiple women?"

"Yeah, I'm still in agreement that I was an ass. I thought I was succeeding in forgetting everything Twinkie, but then my sister said your name and I realized that I hadn't." Oliver chuckled lightly. "You know you'd think I would've realized it then—" he looked down to her in his arms. "Realized how much I loved you, but I just didn't." he shook his head. "I actually spent the majority of that day trying not to even think about you, but it wasn't working. My dad was heading out to the marina and I told him that I would meet him there."

"Where did you go?"

"Your house." Oliver replied remembering the moment so clearly. "I didn't know what I was going to say or do, but what I knew was that I really just needed to see you. But I rang the doorbell, and I knocked and no one answered. You weren't there. You were probably out waiting for your dad and that new car."

"You really came to my house?"Katie asked and Oliver nodded before Katie turned away.

"What?"

"Yeah, so I was supposed to meet my dad at that car lot, but I made a detour before I got there." Katie said once again meeting his eyes. "I went to the marina." she shook her head. "When I talked to Thea, she told me about the trip and how you guys would be gone for a while and I wanted to see you before that happened. So I got there and I saw your dad, and then I saw Sara, with bags and I guess I put two and two together and just left. But I guess once you were actually there, with Sara, you forgot all about me."

"Actually the opposite happened. I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I guess Sara noticed and asked me what was wrong and I don't know why, but I told her."

"Way to kill the mood Romeo." Katie said and Oliver laughed. "No wonder she keeps wanting to tell me this story about you and her on that boat."

"Yeah, that was the day Sara and I ended whatever was happening between us. That's when she said I should probably end things with Laurel, and find you and finally talk about the things we never talked about."

"But then you ended up here."

"Yeah."

"I think it was for the best." Katie said. "Could you imagine being on this island with me. One of us would've killed the other."

"Plus I don't think you would've meshed well with some of the people I came across here. Especially not Slade."

"Slade? That's an interesting name."

"Well he was an interesting guy." Oliver replied remembering the man and everything they'd went through on this island.

"It sounds like you have a story Mr. Queen."

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well I don't have anywhere I have to be right now." Katie replied and so Oliver decided to tell her the crazy, ridiculous story of how he met Slade Wilson, and how he inevitably had to kill him.

John, Sara and Lyla were running on fumes as they waited for the program to find something. So when the computer finally beeped, they all jumped to their feet and rushed over over.

"What does it say?" Sara asked as John seemed to be doing something.

"Only one result." John says before security footage appeared on the screen. They watched as the man whose face wasn't really his, stood beside a plane as uniformed men carried two large trunks onto the plane. "I think we found Katie and Oliver."

"It's been hours, there's no telling where that plane took them." Lyla says before pulling out her phone. "Maybe I can get a hold of that flight manifest to see where that plane was headed."

"You know what I don't get?" Sara says taking the seat beside John as he continues to watch the video in hopes that he finds a clue as to where his friends are. "This guy, he does this, kidnaps them, or her and then just lets them go. What's the point?"

"They're tests." John says with a shake of his head. "He puts them in these situations to see if they can get out of them."

"Ok, so their date was the first one. He kidnaps them, ties them up and see if they can escape."

"Yeah, and then it's the train station. He grabs Katie, sticks her in some random building with three guys trying to kill her to see if she can make it out alive."

"Wait, so these tests, they're all tests of survival. Ra's used to do them all the time. He would toss us in random places and see if we would survive with his teachings."

"You think Ra's could be behind this?"John asks turning to her and Sara shakes her head.

"I don't know. Ra's lessons were a bit more extreme. He wouldn't tie her up in a room to see if she could escape. That's not a lesson he taught. He'd have someone beat the crap out of her for hours until she can barely keep her eyes open, then he'd put her in a room and see if she would even try to escape." Sara looks over to John. "Ra's wanted to see if you would still choose to survive even after being beaten down."

"Who else would care if she could survive or not?" John asks turning back to the monitor, his eyes going to the man who walks up the stairs of the plane, after the trunks are on board. "Who is this guy?"

Katie had once again fallen asleep, but this time she wasn't pulled back into the craziness inside her head and she knew it was because of the man who kept his arms securely around her.

"Katie." Oliver whispered so close to her ear, that his breath tickled her skin. "You have to wake up." Katie's eyes snapped open at the seriousness in his voice. "There's someone outside." She turned slowly to him, before looking around to see sunlight now filtering into the cave. "Can you stand?" Katie nodded as they both slowly stood to their feet. Oliver grabbed the gun he'd taken from the assassin before giving it to Katie. "I'm going to go out there, and you're going to stay here—"

"That's not happening." Katie argued glancing over to the entrance of the cave. "We're in this together." Oliver sighed before turning back to the entrance. "Lead the way." he shook his head before he began walking, Katie right behind him. The moment they walked out, the last thing they expected to see was a man dressed in an entire white suit, with a very creepy rabbit mask standing in front of them.

"Mr. Queen, Ms.Robins." the man's British voice spoke. "I'm happy to see that you're still with us." Katie gripped the gun in her hands and aimed right at the man in front of them. "I wouldn't do that." soon men dressed in all black tactical gear, with ski masks covering their faces appeared with guns aimed right at them. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Why are you here?" Katie asked angrily. "Why were we brought here!?"

"Well this wasn't really a test like the others. We were sure you could handle yourself against the men sent to kill you this time, although you did come very close with Mr. Anderson last night." the man turned his face to Oliver. "Good thing you were here Mr. Queen. Don't worry we've retrieved him from that tree you tied him to, and even managed to stop Mr. Kain and Lao from exploding to bits."

"So is that's it? Lesson learned, we get to go home now?" Katie asked.

"Not yet." the man said taking a slight step forward, only for Oliver to move himself closer in front of Katie. "It's this place you should've learned something from." the masked man let his eyes scan over the place. "So much has occurred on this island, so many people have walked along this land. And I know one day isn't enough time to gather everything, but there is one thing I think you did get." the masked man turned back to Oliver. "And it's all thanks to you Mr. Queen."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you return home your next fight will begin and she needed to know everything before you started." the man said turning back to Katie. "It's easier to win a battle, when you know your opponent completely." and with that the man turned and walked away, his men following behind him, but Katie couldn't let that be it. She needed to know who he was.

"Wait!" Katie yelled taking a step forward. "Who are you?" he stopped and turned back to her. "You obviously only wear that mask when I'm around, because Oliver has already seen your face. I've seen your picture, and I don't recognize you, but you think I will."

"It's not time for you to know who I am yet." the man replied. "But one day you will. One day all of this will all make sense, but until then keep surviving or it all would have been for nothing." the masked man turned and continued walking. "And I would get to east side of the island! Your friends should be arriving soon to rescue you!" Oliver and Katie both watched as the men disappeared into the trees before turning and hoping the man was right.

They arrived at the east side of the island, and as soon as they did, they spotted the plane in the distance.

That night they all stood about in the basement of the club, and listened to the strange and crazy tale of how Katie and Oliver ended up on Lian Yu. After showering and changing, Katie sat staring at the new image of their mask wearing foe.

Her eyes stared inquisitively at the image, hoping something would click, but still nothing. Lyla had told her that the man had some sort of facial reconstructive surgery, so there was a chance that she did know him. Katie was so deep in her thoughts, that the sudden hand on her shoulder startled her. She looked over to see only Oliver standing there behind her.

"Where did everyone go?"

"Home, they spent a long time trying to find us, so it's only right that they get some rest." Oliver said as his eyes went to the screen. "So anything?"

"Nope." Katie says with a shake of her head as she turns back to the screen. "You know the more I see his picture, the more I feel I really do know him." Katie sighed before flicking off the screen and standing to her feet. "So, home?"

"Yeah." Oliver says reaching out to take her hand. As they head for the stairs, Katie's phone suddenly ring. "Who is it?"

"Detective Lance." Katie says in confusion before answering the call. "Detective?"

_"Still Officer._" Quentin replied with a sigh. "_I've been calling you for a while now."_

"Well I've sort of been out of my service area." Katie says glancing over to Oliver with a shrug. "What's up?"

_"I need you to meet me at the Starling City Cemetery."_ Quentin said cryptically and that was definitely something Katie didn't expect the man to say.

"Ok, why?"

_"I don't want to say much over the phone, but it's about your father."_ the man replied

"Alright, I'm on my way." Katie said before ending the call and turning to Oliver. "He needs to see me at the cemetery."

"Everything alright?"

"I don't know, probably like grave robbers maybe?" Katie said with a shrug. "We should go I guess."

Going to a cemetery at night was definitely not on Katie's to do list. After everything she's been through, there were just some things that just still freaked her out. That's why she held on tight to Oliver's hand as they walked across the cemetery toward the lights that seemed to be shining. As soon as they got close they noticed the officers that seemed to be moving about, and setting up caution tape. They spotted Quentin nearby, talking to a man and woman. It wasn't until they were close did Katie realize she knew who the pair were. It was the two reporters, Lois, and Clark, who seemed to be annoying her more and more lately.

"Oh, great, just what my night needed. Reporters around my father's—" she glanced down to her father's grave now noticing that it had been dug up. "What the hell is going on!?" Katie was suddenly extremely angry as she walked over to the grave, looking down to see her father's open casket with nothing inside. "Where's my father?" she looked over to Quentin who walked over to her. "Where is he?!"

"That's what we were going to ask you Ms. Robins." Lois Lane said taking a step forward and holding out her recorder. "Your father's body is missing, do you have any idea where it could be?"


	18. CIRCUS IN TOWN

**Chapter 18**

**CIRCUS IN TOWN**

_"Pain is something that's common to human life. _

_When we ignore it, we aren't engaging in the whole reality,_

_and the pain begins to fester._ _"_  
_-Karen Armstrong_

* * *

The Starling City Police station was a place that just never quieted down. There were always phones ringing, and people talking, or yelling. There was always someone being questioned, and in that moment as Katie sat there right in the middle of it, she didn't hear any of it. Her eyes looked down to a random stapler trying to figure out at what point was her father's body removed from his grave.

Oliver's hand moved gently across Katie's back as he sat beside her at the desk. Katie rarely let her guard down, but in this moment he could see how upset she truly was.

"Hey." he whispered, leaning in so only she could hear him. "We are going to figure this out." she didn't say anything, or even give any reaction to what he was saying. "Twinkie—"

"Alright." Quentin said coming back to his desk to sit. He dropped a file on his desk and took out a pen. "I just have a couple of more questions." he glanced up to Katie whose focus was on the stapler on his desk. "When was the last time you saw your father's body?" she didn't move, or turn to him and Quentin sighed as he closed the folder. "Ms. Robins?" still just nothing. Quentin glanced over to Oliver who looked from Katie to him.

"Maybe we should do this some other time. It's been a long couple of days." Oliver said and Quentin just nodded.

"Sure, but at some point this needs to happen." Quentin said glancing across the station to where the two Metropolis reporters stood watching them like a hawk. "Those two are going to reveal this to the world and this entire city is going to start asking questions." Oliver looked over to the reporters, who turned away the moment he did.

"Their names are Lois Lane and Clark Kent?" Oliver asked turning to Quentin. It was less about curiosity and more about verifying it for when he would look into them later.

"Yeah, and for some reason they have their antennas pointed at her." Quentin said looking back to the woman who had yet to pull her attention from that damn stapler.

"And it was them who suggested the body be exhumed?" Oliver asked and Quentin nodded, once again looking over to the pair. "Why are two Metropolis reporters interested in what's happening in Starling?"

"No idea, but I would watch out for those two." Quentin said and Oliver turned back to him. "I looked into those two, and it's Ms. Lane you should worry about. She's known to dig deep for her stories. She may become a pest and I get the feeling—" he looked over to Katie. "Underneath all those bad jokes is a very impatient woman."

"Don't worry, I'll be looking out for her." Oliver said turning to Katie who suddenly sat up straight and looked over to Quentin.

"Do you have any leads on where my father's body is?" she asked.

"No, not yet, but—"

"What about when the body was moved?"

"CSI seems to think it's been a while. A couple months, maybe even right after he was put in there." Quentin said watching as the woman suddenly stood to her feet. "Look Ms. Robins, if you know something—"

"I don't know anything." Katie said honestly with a shake of her head. "But when I do, I'm sure you will also." she looked over to Oliver. "I want to go home now." he nodded, taking her hand before giving a nod to Quentin. As they headed for the door, Lois seemed to rush over to ask something, only this time Oliver saw her and moved to stand in front of Katie.

"I heard when Officer Lance told you that you would not ask anymore questions while we were here." Oliver said, the dark look in his eyes unwavering.

"Lois—" Clark said taking a step forward to put himself between Oliver and the woman. "Why don't we just call it a night." Oliver's glare remained on the man as well. "All we're interested in is the truth."

"The truth is my father is gone, and I have no idea where he is." Katie said looking over to the man before glancing over to the woman behind his back. "I'm not really in the mood to answer any more of your questions, so it would be wise of you to keep your distance." Oliver took Katie's hand and lead her toward the elevators. Lois and Clark both watched they walked over and waited for the doors to open.

"She's definitely hiding something." Lois said glancing back to Clark who kept his eyes on the pair, listening to a conversation no other human should be able to hear.

"This has to be him." Katie whispered over to Oliver. "Another test or lesson, it has to be."

"Look, right now we don't know anything yet, but we will." Oliver said before placing a kiss on the woman's head as the elevator doors finally opened and they stepped inside.

"Hey, Clark!" Lois said snapping her fingers in front of his face, startling the man bringing his attention back to her. "Focus!"

"Lois, it's late and we should go back to the motel and get some sleep." Clark said and Lois simply nodded with a yawn.

"Fine, but we're back here in the morning to see where this investigation is going to start."

"You keep harassing this officer and he is going to put you in jail." Clark warned as he handed the woman her coat and purse before leading her toward the elevator.

"Wouldn't be the first time." the woman muttered.

Katie and Oliver had been driving in a tension filled silence, when Katie noticed something.

"We're not headed to the foundry?" she looked over to Oliver who shook his head.

"Look, I get that this is big. Your father being missing, but right now if you don't stop and rest you're going to burn out." Oliver replied glancing over to her. "I know you want to find him, but you can't do that if you don't stop and just breathe." Katie scoffed turning away from him to look out the window. The moment Oliver pulled up in front of the house, without a word Katie stepped out and stalked toward the house. Oliver groaned because he knew this night wasn't going to end on a good note. He followed her inside, closing the door behind him.

"I get you're upset—"

"No, I'm more than upset!" Katie snapped angrily turning back to him. "I was just held against my will on an island where people tried to kill me and one nearly did and then I come home and find out that someone has dug up my father's grave and just taken his body." she shook her head and took a step toward him. "And you don't want me to figure out why."

"That's not true, I just think if you do this now, if you let this thing drive you, it's going to hurt you." Oliver said closing the distance between them. "You once told me that in times of crisis, there has to be someone who thinks clearly, who can make the tough decisions without letting emotions interfere. Right now you're emotional, and you're angry and you're not thinking clearly. We're going to find who ever did this and—"

"And we're going to find whoever is trying to kill me, and who is behind the rabbit mask." Katie interjected. "The thing is Oliver, we haven't done anything. We're not even close, so stop making it seem like at some point this is going to be all wrapped up in some pretty little bow. Everything is not going to be alright!" Oliver tried to pull her into a hug, because in this moment he saw the walls she held up crashing down. She tried to push him away, to pretend as if she were fine, but soon couldn't fight anymore and let her self be pulled against his chest. Oliver felt her tears against his shirt, and pressed a kiss on top of her head. "Where's my daddy Oliver?"

"I don't know, but I promise we will find him."

That night, or maybe even early morning, Katie wasn't even sure as she laid awake. Her fingers slid gently across Oliver's hand that hadn't moved from it's place around her waist. She was comfortable in her place pressed against him, him holding onto her, trying to make her feel safe. Which she did, and yet her brain didn't shut off as she tried going over every possible detail of the events of her life trying to pin point the exact moment everything went to shit. She realized there wasn't just one moment. Just a series of fucked up events that lead her to this moment where absolutely nothing made much sense.

Katie gently pulled from Oliver's grasp, grabbing her robe and quietly leaving the room. She noticed the slight sunlight flitting through the windows, and realized that it was morning. She roamed about the house aimlessly, ending up in the kitchen watching her coffee as it brewed. As she waited, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't heard from either Bruce or Felicity since the pair had went back to Gotham. She walked over and grabbed the kitchen phone, before stepping out on the back porch as she dialed Bruce's number. She groaned when it went straight to voice mail.

"Hey, I haven't heard from you or Felicity. I'm starting to get worried." she let out a sigh as she walked over to look out the large back yard. "Things are happening here and I need to talk to you. Look just call me if you need help with this whole Joker thing." Katie ended the call, turning about to walk back into the house when a sudden gust of wind rushed behind her. She froze for a moment before slowly turning around only to come face to face with someone she didn't expect to see in her back yard. "You know I had accepted the fact that I imagined you." she walked over to the edge of the porch as she looked over the man whose cape swayed in the wind. "I'm still not ready to believe in flying men."

"Just men that dress up as bats and men that shoot arrows at bad guys?" Superman asked and Katie chuckled.

"Why are you here?"

"Jacob Robins." He said suddenly and Katie's ears perked up a bit. "Do you know where he is?" Katie looked at him in confusion.

"Of course I don't know where he is. The last time I saw him, he was being lowered into the ground where I expected him to stay. I didn't expect some sick bastard to dig up my father." Katie shook her head. "Look I don't know why you're here and I don't really care. This city doesn't need another hero, so just go home." she turned about to go back into her house.

"There has been a lot of death and mayhem in this city." Superman said and Katie stopped. "I thought I would lend my services. Let your Arrow know that I'm here and I will be here, for a while at least."

"Why?"

"Jacob Robins was a good man. He has helped many people, including me and he doesn't deserve to be desecrated. I will help find him and if you know something—"

"You're the guy who flies around in tights and—"

"Hey, they're not tights!" He countered offensively.

"Whatever, look all I know about you is what I see in the papers. So I'm not really jumping at the chance to spill my guts to you." Katie replied defensively. "I really appreciate you wanting to help me, but my life is like seriously complicated right now and flying men in like super tight clothing—" he opened his mouth to argue, but she held up a hand. "Admit it, it's tight and I just can't do this now." and with that she turned around and walked back into the house, closing the door behind her. She headed straight for the coffee, hoping the caffeine would make her day that much better. Katie poured a cup and took one sip before her face morphed into a frown.

"There you are." Oliver's raspy morning voice said from behind her. Katie turned around so he could see the look on her face. "What's wrong now?"

"You bought decaf?" Oliver sighed and just nodded.

"Well in my defense, I'm usually the one who makes the coffee and when I do I make yours with half regular and half decaf." Oliver replied walking over to her. "You don't see it, but you become an insane person with the amount of coffee you drink." he took the cup from her hand and sat it down, before grabbing her waist and lifting her to sit on the counter. "I woke up this morning and was robbed of the moment where you're the first thing I see. Why was that?"

"I couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake you. I just have a lot on my mind." she replied turning away from him.

"And like I told you yesterday, if you want to talk, I'm here. You don't have to keep it all locked away inside."

"I'm not a talker Oliver."

"I'm very aware of that doctor." he replied as he leaned forward to capture her lips with his own. Katie simply falls into the kiss, her arms coming around his neck, as her legs seem to naturally fold around his waist. His hands move along her bare legs, traveling slightly underneath her night gown, before pulling back. "So I talked to John last night to figure out where to start and—"

"Gotham." Katie interrupts and Oliver's brow furrows in confusion. "Something's happening, I haven't talked to Bruce or Felicity. I think they may need help. That's where we start." Oliver stares for a moment but nods.

"Alright, I will make some calls, see if we can get the plane." Oliver says and Katie turns away again. "What?"

"The last time I tried to leave this city, I was kidnapped and put in a very sadistic game." she replied meeting Oliver's blue eyes. "I don't want to risk something like happening again. If Bruce really is in need of help, I don't want to be the reason that it's put on hold."

"I'm not leaving you here alone." Oliver replied, his hands slightly gripping her thighs as if to reiterate his promise. "Any trouble comes our way, we will handle it."

When Katie and Oliver finally arrived at the air field, Katie was suddenly nervous. Her eyes continually scanned the area for anyone suspicious.

"Hey." Oliver said walking up behind her, slightly startling her. "Here." he held out a paper cup of coffee and Katie took it gratefully. She inhaled the sweet smelled before bringing it closer to her lips, only to stop before actually sipping. She glances over to Oliver who nods. "Yep, half and half."

"You're fired from getting me coffee." Katie said before finally taking a sip. "Where's John?"

"He wasn't happy about it, but I told him to stay behind." Oliver replied. "This is one guy who likes to dress up like a clown. We shouldn't need the whole team on this. Plus Lyla was going to be in town for a while, and I asked him to work with her to see if we can figure out what happened to your father's body. ARGUS seems just as interested in that mystery as we are."

"With our luck, they're probably the one behind it." Katie muttered turning and heading outside to the plane.

Oliver eyes had drifted closed for only a few moments after the plane was in the air, when he felt Katie's knee bump his. He opened his eyes to see the woman staring out the window, while her leg seemed to bounce nervously. Oliver hand reaches out, and grabs her knee and it stops instantly.

"Talk. To. Me." Oliver said stressing every word as Katie turned to him. "What are you thinking about?"

"Everything." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "The Island, crazy British guys, my father being missing, reporters deciding to dig into my life." Katie slid her hands across her face and let out a deep breath before turning back to him. "I'm just trying to figure why so much shit just has to happen right now."

"I told you—"

"I know Oliver. We're going to figure it out and one day everything is going to be alright. It's just one day isn't today. Today just sucks." she turned back to look out the window, finding the world above the clouds oddly comforting.

"Five years." Oliver said suddenly and Katie looked over to him. "I was taken from my home, endured so many horrible things." he reached over and took her hand in his. "And I'm still here. You've endured as much crap as I have and you've survived this long Twinkie, beat very tough odds and you're right here. You're tougher than you think and yes we will figure this out, and yes everything will be alright."

"You sound so sure of yourself." Katie said sliding closer to the man.

"I am." Oliver replied leaning in close enough to kiss her. It was one of those kisses that lead to something else. Soon, Oliver's hand reached over to unbuckle her seat belt before pulling her into his lap. When the need for air was too great, Katie pulled back, her forehead falling on Oliver's has their mingled breaths played against each others.

"There's something I want you ask you." Oliver's voice rasp as his hand continued moving along her legs. "There's this club, a very exclusive club." soon his lips were trailing along her neck. "Membership happens miles high above the clouds." Katie laughed as she brought his eyes back to hers.

"You're such a dork." she muttered.

"Yeah, but I'm your dork." he replied as he shifted her in his lap to straddle him.

"Yeah, you're my dork." Katie replied before dropping her lips back to his.

It was nightfall when Oliver and Katie arrived in Gotham, which always made the place seem so eerie in Katie's opinion. They had a taxi bring them in front of the tall skyscraper that held Bruce's penthouse.

"Of course this is where he lives." Oliver muttered as they stepped out of the cab.

"This isn't his home." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "This is just a very flashy building that he's staying at while the manor is under construction." she walked over to the doors while Oliver retrieved their bags. Soon they were on an elevator that led to Bruce's floor, when the doors finally slip open and the aged face of an old friend appeared.

"Well I'll be." the British butler spoke with a tired smile as he looked at the woman.

"Long time no see, huh Alfred?" Katie said with a smile as she stepped forward to give the man a hug. "How have you been old man?" Alfred chuckled. She and Bruce had tended to call him old, even when they were children. She stepped back from the hug. "More gray since the last I saw you."

"Well your friend can be thanked for that." Alfred replied, his eyes going over to the man standing silently beside Katie. "Mr. Oliver Queen, I don't believe we have had the pleasure."

"I don't believe so either sir." Oliver said holding out his hand to the man, who sincerely shook it.

"Well then, Alfred Pennyworth, this is Oliver Queen my boyfriend—" she glanced over to Oliver. "Oliver, this is Alfred, the best person in the world." both men laughed at the woman's words.

"I wouldn't say that Ms. Robins, please come inside." the man moved aside to let the pair in. "Not that it is not good to see you, but why may I ask are you here so late?"

"Guys?" came a voice and they all looked down the hall where they spotted Felicity who dawned only an oversized black pajama top, her legs bare, with her hair pulled up into messy bun. "What are you doing here?"

"Felicity where did you—" Suddenly a bare chested Bruce appeared, wearing the pants that matched the shirt Felicity was wearing. His eyes went to Katie and Oliver who stood with slightly wide eyes at the pair, before Oliver decided to turn away. "Robins, what are you doing here?"

"Neither one of you were answering my calls, we were worried." Katie replied trying to block the images in her head of what they'd just interrupted.

"Oh, we were in Hong Kong." Felicity said and Katie turned to her. "There was this mob boss who—" her eyes looked over to Bruce who seemed to glare. "What?" He simply turned his eyes back to Katie.

"Look I appreciate the gesture, but here in my city, I work alone. I'm—"

"Usually comes inches away from death whenever he steps outside his front door." Felicity interrupted turning to Bruce's glare. "I'm sorry, but it's true. You're extremely good at what you do, but I'm actually surprised you have survived this long without some kind of help."

"I have help!" Bruce countered before turning and pointing to Alfred. "Alfred is all the help I need."

"I would beg to differ sir." Alfred replied also ignoring the offended look of his boss. "Maybe this time, when the Joker seems to be a step ahead at every turn, you just take the offered help." Bruce turned to Katie and Oliver before letting out an annoyed huff. He was about to turn and leave when Katie called out to him.

"Hey, I know you're having a toddler moment, but I need to talk to you." Katie said and Bruce stopped and turned to her. She took a slight step forward, but Oliver caught her arm.

"First he puts on a shirt." Oliver says before glancing over on Felicity. "And she puts on pants, and then everyone will be comfortable."

When Bruce found Katie, she was sitting on the roof of the penthouse staring up to the stars.

"How did I know I would find you here." Bruce said walking over and dropping down beside the woman. "Tell you the truth, I'm glad you're out here and not in there with Oliver lecturing Felicity about the importance of being reachable." There wasn't a crack of a smile as Katie kept her eyes up to the sky. "What's going on Robins?"

"How did you do it?" Katie asked turning to the man. "How did you leave that place and come back here and not just want to scream." she turned her entire body to face him. "Sometimes, this life, the right now doesn't even seem real. I can still smell the blood sometimes, I can hear screaming of men, begging me to spare their life." she shook her head before looking back out to city that looked kind of nice from this view. "Three days ago me and Oliver were kidnapped and dropped on Lian Yu where men tried to kill me, but failed. Then I come home with a call telling me to come to the cemetery where he would tell me that someone has dug up my father's grave and taken his body."

"What?" Bruce asked and Katie sat up, looking the man straight in the eyes.

"I need you to tell me you knew nothing about this."

"Of course I didn't know anything about this, how could you even—"

"Because as much as I would like to Bruce, I can't trust you anymore. I don't know who to trust and right now I just need all the craziness to just stop."

"Well you chose the wrong place and time to visit Robins." Bruce said standing to his feet. "I had nothing to do with your father being missing, but I will help you find him. After—" he glanced back up to the house and sighed.

"After you catch a clown." Katie replied standing to her feet as well. "I get it. You have a job to this city and I'm here to help."

"If you don't trust me, then why are you here?"

"Because I love you, you annoying bastard." Katie replied before turning and stalking away.

The next morning, Oliver turned over in bed in the intention of wrapping an arm around the woman beside him. When he only found nothing, his eyes snapped open he noticed that indeed Katie's side of the bed empty. He sat up and glanced around the ridiculously large room that was illuminated by the sunlight.

"Twinkie?" he called slipping out of bed and walking over to the conjoined bathroom. When he peeked inside, it too was empty. He thought her issues with sleeping were doing better since they were together, but he figures after the latest rounds of trouble, that maybe it isn't.

Oliver grabbed a t-shirt and slipped out of their room in to the hall. He found himself walking unsure where he was going in the large penthouse. He soon heard multiple voices and followed them to the living room where he found people setting up for a party. He spotted a familiar face and walked over to Felicity who stood looking up to the workers with her tablet in hand.

"Hey." he greeted startling the woman. "What's going on?"

"Bruce is throwing a Fundraiser for Harvey Dent." Felicity replied letting her eyes scan over the place as the decorations seemed to be coming together. Oliver glanced over noticing a slight expression change with the woman.

"Is that a problem?"

"Absolutely not." Felicity said a little too quickly turning to Oliver with a put on smile. "I'm glad he's taking part in the politics of his city and supporting a good man."

"But..."

"He's not doing it out the kindness of his heart." Felicity muttered with a shrug. "I think it's too impress her."

"Her?"

"Rachel Dawes. Current girl friend of Mr. Dent." Felicity said as she turned back to the staff. "Also current ex girlfriend of Mr. Wayne."

"Felicity—"

"Don't. I know how I must look right now, but you haven't seen him when he sees her. I think he may still have feelings for her."

"He also has feelings for you." Oliver replied and Felicity glanced over to him. She knew the relationship she had with Bruce was definitely not something Oliver loved which made his comment that much more surprising. "I also see the way he looks at you. I wouldn't worry."

"Maybe you're right." Felicity said glancing down to her tablet.

"Hey, have you seen Twinkie? I woke up and she wasn't there."

"That's because her and Bruce were both up at the crack of dawn."Felicity replied remembering waking up to an empty bed as well. "Alfred said they went out for a run."

"What?" Oliver said, definitely not liking the idea of Katie being out in this city without him. "How could they—" Suddenly the elevator slid open and both Felicity and Oliver glanced over to see the sweaty figures of Bruce and Katie stepping off.

"Hey." Katie greeted as she walked over to Oliver. She made to give him a hug, but stopped herself. "Ugh, I'm all sweaty."

"I don't care." Oliver replied bringing his arms around her and leaning in to kiss her. "Why didn't you wake me? I would've come with you."

"Why should you lose sleep because of my issues?" she replied pulling back from him. "I'm going to go take a shower." she gave him another quick peck on the cheek before walking off down the hall. Oliver's eyes followed her until she was gone before turning to Bruce and Felicity. Felicity knew that look in Oliver's eyes and just shuttered at the thought of another argument ensuing.

"Felicity could you give me and Bruce a minute?"

"No, because you two seem to need a mediator at all times." Felicity replied defiantly which slightly surprise Oliver who wasn't used this new side of his easy going techie friend. "You want to talk, then I stay to make sure no one gets a black eye."

"Fine." Oliver said turning to Bruce. "You do not take her anywhere without me knowing first."

"And who are you now? Her keeper?"Bruce asked and Oliver angrily took a step forward, to which Felicity moved as well to stand between them.

"You have no idea what's been happening?"

"I do, she told me and I get you being anxious, but trust that nothing was going to happen to her with me around." Bruce replied. Oliver shook his head about to turn and walk away, when Bruce stopped him. "You're going about this all wrong." Oliver stopped and looked back to the man.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's absolutely nothing you can do to change any of those emotions she'd trying to keep inside herself." Bruce replied looking up to the man. "She doesn't want to hear that everything is going to be ok Oliver, because those are only words and we both know how she feels about words."

"Then I don't know how to help her. We're having no luck figuring out who this bastard is who keeps throwing these twisted lessons at her, we have nowhere to start in finding her father, and we have absolutely know idea when Ra's is going to strike. Right now all I have is words, that is all I can offer her."

"That's fine, but the problem is that she doesn't really need anything from you." Bruce said closing the distance between him and the man, to which Felicity followed. "You're really believing this illusion that she’s totally and completely alright? That she is fine with one day being kept in a room and told to kill, to being back here in her normal little life?"

"I know she's still adjusting and I know it's hard, I just--"

"Can't focus everything on her. You can't help her with her problems, and her fears and just be a boyfriend and still be what your city needs you to be." Bruce said and both Oliver and Felicity stared at the man waiting for him to say more. Oliver didn't say anything because in this moment, he feared there was truth in the man's words. In this moment, both Bruce and Oliver had a shared problem, one they knew they would have to deal with at some point. Felicity dropped her head because she too feared that there was more that needed to be said, but the man seemed to stop himself. She shook her head before walking off down the hall. "Felicity, wait—" there was a sudden beeping from her tablet and Felicity stopped and looked down to it with wide eyes. She turned back to Oliver and Bruce.

"I think we have a problem." Both Bruce and Oliver walked over to see what had the woman so nervous and looked upon a news broadcast.

_"Beware the footage is disturbing." _the anchor said

_The screen changed to a blindfolded man, wearing a makeshift Batman costume. They noticed his face was bruised and bloodied, as he sat in some kind of florescent lit room. _

_"Tell them your name." came the voice that had become way too familiar to Bruce. _

"That's him isn't it?" Felicity asked looking over to Bruce. "The Joker?" Bruce just nodded as he continued to watched the sadistic video.

_"Brian Douglas." the man answered weakly. _

_"Are you the real Batman?" the joker's taunting question came with a slight giggle. _

Katie stood in the steamed bathroom staring at herself. She'd been hoping the run would just shut her brain off like it usually did, but nothing. Everything was playing in her head one after the other, like some bad movie that just never ends.

"_You thought once you stepped off the plane that everything was going to come up roses."_ came the voice of her ever present figment of her imagination. "_You fought tooth and nail to get home, because you thought home was where you would be safe."_ Katie stared up in the mirror at the hallucination that stood right behind her. "_You thought if you came home, then all the bad things you did just wouldn't matter."_ he chuckled and it made her skin crawl. "_For some reason you thought you could just leave the monster behind, but it's right here."_ his eyes stared at hers, and her hands gripped the sides of the sink. "_You should stop trying to hide it, because it's pointless."_ Katie's fist slammed into the mirror, causing it to crack instantly.

For some reason it didn't hurt. Like she could see the blood and the scars the glass created, but the pain didn't register. It was at that moment, did Katie finally realize that something might be wrong. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Hey, you've been in there for a while." came the forced calmed voice of her boyfriend. She knew he was worried about her, and it was at this very moment did she realize that maybe he should be. "Twinkie—" Oliver seemed to know something was off, and decided to just push open the door, his eyes going to Katie and then the broken mirror. He rushed over, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her hand. "What happened?"

"I punched the mirror." Katie said simply, and Oliver doesn't know what it was, but the way she said it. The monotone way her voice sounded when spoke, wasn't at all like her. His eyes once looked up to her, where he saw her staring at her distorted reflection in the broken mirror.

Katie made up some story about being tired and wanting to take a nap in an effort to stop whatever argument or lecture, or some heartfelt ode that Oliver maybe thinking up in this moment. She was surprised he didn't argue, or even accuse her of blatantly avoiding a conversation she was very aware they needed to have.

Moments later Katie laid in their bed, listening to the whispered conversation between Oliver and Bruce, she's positive she isn't supposed to hear.

"This party is pointless, you need to be focusing on the finding this guy." Oliver whispered as he looked over to Bruce.

"I also need to keep up the illusion that is Bruce Wayne, and you know that." Bruce replied glancing over to the door that lead to their bedroom. "She a broke a mirror?"

"Yeah, and the look on her face was—" Oliver turned away, suddenly assaulted with the image. "It was as if it wasn't a big deal."

"You didn't do that thing you do, when you look at her like she just pulled a rabbit out of her ass did you?" Bruce asked and Oliver sent him a glare not even dignifying that question with an answer. "I mean you didn't look at her like you didn't know who she was, because that's the last thing she needs."

"Well what's the first thing she needs?!" Oliver snapped unintentionally, glancing over to the door to make sure she didn't stir. He turned back to Bruce and sighed.

"Look maybe this party could help." Bruce said ignoring to look Oliver was giving him. "One night that has absolutely nothing to do with the things in her life could be good. I'm having some dresses brought for Felicity, and I'll make a call for Katie as well. Everything else will be up to you." Bruce gave the man a very weird friend like jab to the shoulder, before turning and heading down the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Oliver finally asked and Bruce chuckled as he turned back to look over his shoulder.

"Felicity seems to think I need to try being nicer to you!" he called back with a shake of his head.

"I would appreciate very much if you just didn't!" Oliver called back before turning and walking back into the room.

That evening Katie stood staring at herself in the lavender dress that seem to hug her perfectly as it flowed all the way down to her feet.

"You sure you like this one!?" she called over her shoulder and soon Oliver emerged from the bathroom buttoning up his shirt, as his tie was lazily hanging over his shoulders. He appeared behind her, bringing his arms around her middle and dropping a kiss to the exposed skin of her shoulder. "It makes me look like a cheery person. Like someone who talks a lot and I don't want people to get those vibes from me." Oliver simply laughed as Katie turned back to him as reached up for his tie. "Who am I kidding? We're two very prominent citizens of Starling City, of course we're going to be victims of people who talk way too much." Oliver looks down to the woman who easily ties the tie around his neck. Katie glanced up to him and smiled. "My dad taught me. I used to see my mom tie his ties all the time and he'd look at her—" she smiled at the look Oliver was giving her right now. "Much like that look you have on your face and I just wanted to know how." When she was done, she ran a hand over the tie before placing her hands on his chest. She glanced over to her right hand, that was bandaged. "I should come up with a story for this, something that doesn't make me seem crazy."

"Twinkie, I don't—"

"How about a rock climbing accident?"she interrupted, hoping to crawl out of that impending conversation she was still aware they needed to have. "That's believable."

"Sure." Oliver muttered turning and walking from her to get his jacket. She hated herself in that moment, for shutting him down, but for the moment she really wasn't ready to feel the things going on inside of her. Such an act scared the hell out of her.

"Or how about after seeing that video the joker posted, I punched a clown." she said and Oliver glanced over to her with an arched brow. "Yeah, you're right too much."

At the party that seemed to be crowded with plenty of Gotham's big wigs, Katie, Oliver and Felicity stayed close together, glad no one had recognized them yet.

"What about a skiing accident?" Katie suggested and both Felicity and Oliver glanced over to her. The majority of the party so far was spent with Katie throwing out random scenarios she could use as an excuse for her bandaged hand.

"You don't know how to ski." Oliver countered as he brought a glass of champagne to his lips.

"Exactly, hence the accident." Katie replied proudly before glancing around when suddenly the elevator dinged, and more people arrived to the party.

"And there she is." Felicity muttered bringing her own glass to her lips. Katie and Oliver followed her eyes to the couple that was walking from the elevator.

"There who is?" Oliver asked over to Katie.

"That is Harvey Dent and his date Rachel Dawes." Katie replied as she saw the couple greeting a few guests as they walked in. It was Harvey who looked over to them first, before whispering something over to Rachel who looked over to them as well.

"Oh God, she's coming over. " Felicity muttered, and Katie just took her hand.

"I knew Bruce didn't hold back when it comes to parties, but Oliver Queen being here sort of takes the cake." Harvey said with a smile as he holds his hand out to Oliver. "I'm glad you could make it out."

"Well Bruce said you were someone who could really do great for this city." Oliver said shaking the man's hand. "Plus a room filled with as many influential people could have it's perks."

"Your mother's mayoral run, I did hear about that." Harvey replied. "I was actually kind of surprised to hear it, but I'm very interested in seeing how it all turns out." the man looked to the women standing beside Oliver and gave each a nod. "It is good to see you again Ms. Smoak."

"You as well Mr. Dent." Felicity replied with a smile before bringing her glass to her lips once again before looking to Rachel. "Ms. Dawes."

"Dr. Robins." Harvey said and Katie suddenly turned to him with a smile. "I have to say it is an honor to meet you."

"Really? Why?" the question seemed to make the man laugh.

"What you did for your city in it's time of need was remarkable." Harvey replied with a slight shake of his head. "I wish there were more people like that in this city. People who see an opportunity to stand up and do something."

"Well you have your Batman." Katie replied and the man nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm grateful for the work of the Batman, but I think this city could use more people to be heroes without the masks, you know." the man said before glancing over to Rachel who smiled at his words before turning back to Katie. "Wait, you two probably know each other right?"

"Yeah, kinda, sorta." Rachel replied turning back to Katie with a slight smile before taking a step forward. "There's something different about you. It's the eyes. They're like his when he came back." Katie didn't say anything, not that Rachel really expected her to. "Would you pinch me if I gave you a hug right now?" Katie stared at the woman before smiling with a shrug.

"Maybe, maybe not. Attempt at your own risk, Rae." Katie spoke and both Oliver and Felicity shared a looking before looking back to the women, just as Rachel brought her arms around Katie in a hug.

"I would've come see you when you came back,but—" Rachel pulled back from the hug. "Bruce said—"

"Well that was the problem wasn't it? We never listen to Bruce, he's a boy." both women laughed at the joke that they only seemed to understand. Rachel glanced over to Harvey and just shook her head.

"We should probably go mingle." the woman said before turning to Katie. "We should talk later." Katie simply nodded before they watched the couple walk away.

Katie felt their eyes on her, and simply sighed before looking to Felicity first.

"Since when are you all chummy with my mortal enemy?" Felicity asked and Katie let out a slight snort.

"That woman is not your enemy Felicity."

"I don't know, but there is something there. I can see it whenever they're in the same room together." Felicity replied with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, it's probably the same thing people see when you two are in the same room." Katie replied giving the woman's shoulder a nudge. "Rachel and Bruce have history, but they ended for a reason." Katie's eyes once again scanned the crowd. "Where the hell is Bruce? He can't ditch his own party and he definitely can't ditch and leave me here."

"Well Bruce thought it would be a good idea to keep up the whole airheaded, playboy thing." Felicity said when the sudden sound of propellers filled the room, and everyone's eyes when to the balcony where a helicopter landed. Soon Bruce stepped off with two models on each arms. "And apparently that means the world can't know that we're together."

"Tell me why again I can't hit him?" Oliver asked as they all glared at the man who came into the party.

"Well at the moment there are way too many witnesses." Katie replied.

"I'm glad you all got started without me." Bruce said with a smile as the music seemed to quiet down. " Now, where is Harvey?" Bruce spots the man in the crowd and walks over. "Rachel!" he glances around. "Where's Rachel?" soon the crowd parts to reveal the annoyed face of Rachel Dawes. " Rachel Dawes—my oldest friend. When she told me she was dating Harvey Dent, I had one thing to say... the guy from those god-awful campaign commercials?" The crowd erupted in laughter that made Felicity roll her eyes.

"I think I need something stronger than this." Felicity muttered before walking off toward the bar.

"I'll go after her." Katie replied over to Oliver. "I have a feeling a drunk Smoaks, maybe worse then a drunk Twinkie. "

"Nothing's worse than a drunk Twinkie." Oliver replied gaining a playful swat to his arm.

Katie sat beside Felicity at the bar waving the bartender away, trying to stop the woman from ordering another shot of tequila. Bruce had gave what seemed like a heartfelt speech about Harvey, before the music came back up and people began conversing again. His eyes spotted Felicity at the bar, and when she met his eyes, he nudged his head toward the balcony.

"I am not going out there." Felicity said defiantly, turning away from him.

"Yes you are." Katie replied with a shake of her head. Felicity glanced over to the woman, knowing she was right before rolling her eyes and sliding from her stool and heading off to the balcony.

"You look familiar." a sudden voice said and Katie turned her head to see a man standing further down the bar before he grabbed his drink and walked over to her. "Did we go on a date?"

"I don't think so." Katie chuckled with a shake of her head before turning away.

"Well that is a travesty all in itself." the man replied appearing beside Katie. "My name is Harry, and you are—"

"Not interested." the familiar deep voice of Oliver Queen spoke from behind Katie. She felt the moment he appeared, but didn't say anything. Harry simply nodded before walking away. Soon Oliver's hand slid across Katie's back. "And you wonder why I don't want you to leave my side."

"I assumed you were here to stop me from hitting people." Katie replied with an innocent smile before looking back over to the bottles that lined the wall behind the bar.

"You're not thinking about unleashing drunk Twinkie on these unsuspecting people are you?" Oliver asked and Katie chuckled turning back to the man.

"No, I was wondering if anyone here would miss Oliver Queen, and that woman who looks oddly familiar if they disappeared into a guest room for a while." Katie replied.

"You know I don't think they will." Oliver replied leaning into capture the woman's lips just as the unmistakable sound of a shot gun being fired cut through the room.

"We're the entertainment!" a familiar voice yelled and Katie and Oliver shared a look before Katie jumped to her feet, and they both seemed to go into a mode neither thought they would shift into at this party. Oliver moved about to confront the clown, but Katie caught his arm. and he turned back to her.

"Maybe you should change into a different suit?" Katie suggested. Oliver nodded before running off down the hall. Katie took a slight deep breath before sifting through the crowd to get a good look at the man.

"I only have one question: where is Harvey Dent?" The Joker yelled walking through the frightened crowd who scanned around looking for the man. "I'll settle for his loved ones." A man took a step forward and the clown stopped.

"We're not intimidated by thugs." the man said and the Joker laughed.

"You know you remind me of my father." the joker says before grabbing the man's face, and sliding a knife across his cheek. "I hated my father." Against all reasoning, Katie took a step forward and spoke.

"You know you're not a very nice clown." she spoke, and all eyes went to her, including those of the clown. "Actually you suck as a clown. No one's laughing or smiling, you've failed your job."

"I'm actually a very good clown Ms. Robins." the man said pulling his knife back and sauntering toward the woman. "Just ask your father." in that moment, something inside of Katie snapped and she found her self taking another step forward, but a hand caught hers stopping her.

"Let me go Smoaks." Katie whispered over to the woman who simply shook her head.

"No, right now you're the doctor from Starling. Not the Guardian." Felicity said quickly before turning to see the Joker standing right in front of them. Katie turned her eyes to him, able to see the smeared make up that seemed to be attempting to cover up scars on his face.

"Oh, that's right. Dear ole daddy kicked the bucket." The Joker replied with a frown that didn't look too believable with his permanent smile. "He's not saying much of anything is he?" Katie sighed before jerking her hand free from Felicity and taking another step forward, bringing her dangerously close to the clown which seemed to both intrigue and amuse the man. "But that's a different story for a different day, today all I want is Harvey Dent."

"I'm sorry Harvey's not here right now, but if you leave a message he promises to get back to you never." Katie replied and Joker erupted in laughter as he pointed his knife at the woman.

"You're funny and I love to laugh." he replied before grabbing Katie and quickly spinning her around so her back was to his chest and his knife was firmly on her cheek causing gasps from the crowd around them. "But right now you're being very annoying. Where is Harvey!"

"I think he's having tea with Waldo." Katie grit through her teeth before dropping a high heeled foot onto his, before jerking her elbow into his gut. His arm released her and she quickly jumped forward, but instead of a cry of pain, he instead just cackled.

"A little fight in you!" the Joker said through his laughter. "I like that!"

"Then you're going to love me." came a familiar gravelly voice of the Batman who seemed to appear out of nowhere pushing the man away. Soon a brawl erupted between Batman and the Joker's goons who seemed to be coming from every direction. Katie took a step forward to help, but soon stopped when an arrow pierced one of the goons right through the chest. The lights began to flicker on an off when suddenly a new figure swung though the window. Shrieks and cries came from all around as guests found themselves unable to do anything but watch. Soon the Arrow appeared along side Batman, taking down the Joker's goons left and right until the last one was knocked out and their eyes turned to the Joker himself. The clown suddenly began glancing around and it would seem the closest person to him was none other than Felicity Smoak. He quickly brought a gun to her neck and began backing away.

"Drop the gun!" Batman's gravelly voice demanded hoping not too much of Bruce Wayne was showing through the mask as he saw the frightened look in Felicity's eyes.

"Sure just take off the mask and show us who you are."

Felicity desperately tried shaking her head as the grasp the clown had around her neck tightened. The Arrow soon took a step forward and held up his bow with an arrow aimed right for the clowns head.

"Last chance clown, let her go." came the Arrow's modulated voice.

"Now you! You I just didn't expect!" the Joker laughed. "Hopefully we'll see each other again, very soon." The man turned, shooting out the glass behind them before forcing Felicity out holding her only by her arm.

"Let her go!" Batman yelled angrily taking a step forward.

"Very poor choice of words." The clown countered and before anyone could even move, Felicity was gone out the window. Both Batman and the Arrow ran toward the window, while the Joker ran for the elevator. Katie looked over to the window, before turning and following after the clown only for the doors to slide close just as she arrived. His manic laughter was the last thing she heard before he was just gone.

For someone who almost was killed just hours earlier, Felicity Smoak was unexpectedly alert. Soon after the disaster of the party, they all changed and went to one of Wayne Enterprises docks where Bruce had set up a temporary base of operations in an underground bunker. Felicity's first order of business was analyzing the Joker's video trying to hopefully identify the Joker's location.

"Felicity maybe you should—"

"Bruce if you say sleep, or take a break, or anything that takes me away from this computer I will stab you in the eye with the pen on my right." Felicity said, not even tearing her eyes from the monitor in front of her as she typed. Bruce simply grabbed the pen and put it in his pocket before looking over to Oliver who looked around the bunker. Katie stood in the same spot since the Joker's face appeared on the screen and so Bruce walked over. "Robins—"

"He knows my father." Katie spoke before tuning to Bruce. "Tell me Bruce, how does that very sick demented individual know my father?"

"I don't know, but your father and his dealings with ARGUS brought him in contact with a lot of people." Bruce replied glancing up to the screen. "I knew he wasn't going to go out without a fight, but this was crossing a line." Bruce's eyes went over to Felicity who was just too determined to stop. "A very dangerous line to cross."

"Well what does he want?" Oliver asked walking over to them. "Criminals are rarely complicated individuals. We find out what he wants, then we have a chance to catch him."

"Except he isn't some run of the mill criminal." Katie says taking a step forward, and looking to the paused screen of the Joker's face. "He's completely lost his grasp on reality. He's insane and in that case, that makes him unpredictable."

"Then what's the point in all of this?" Bruce asked looking up to the screen as well.

"Some people just get off on destruction." Katie replied glancing over to him. He stared pensively at the screen before walking over to stand beside Felicity. "He's looking to destroy this city and that means getting rid of the hope in this city. That mean's Harvey and that means finally getting the Batman to give up." Bruce glanced over to her for a moment before looking to Oliver.

"He's not going to stop looking for Harvey." Bruce said and Oliver nodded. "I was going to put my ear to the city."

"Oliver's going with you!" Felicity called from her place behind her computer.

"No, he's—"

"He's going end of discussion!" Felicity replied and Bruce only groaned in annoyance before turning back to Oliver and Katie.

"Don't you think you should at least ask the man?"

"It doesn't matter what he says, he's going." Katie replied waving a hand toward Oliver before going over to Felicity. Both men looked over to the women before turning to each other with a shake of their heads.

That night Katie sat beside Felicity whose fingers never stopped typing. It was when even Katie couldn’t take the incessant typing, did she finally reach over and grab the woman's hands to stop her.

"Felicity—"

"I'm fine." Felicity says sternly still looking to the computer screen.

"You were dropped from the window of a very tall building." Katie stated and the blonde turned to her. "No one would be fine after that."

"You know I thought that was it." Felicity said dropping her head as the memory of just falling and waiting for death came back to her. "But then, it wasn't. Then he caught me." the woman chuckled before bringing a watery gaze back to Katie.

"Felicity—"

"I think I'm in love with him." Felicity stated with a slight smile as she wiped away a stray tear. "No, I know I'm in love with him."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I don't know." Felicity said with a shake of her head. "I don't know what it is, but I just have this feeling that it just won't be easy."

"It probably won't, but who cares. If at the end of the day it's you two, together then all the other stuff won't even matter." Katie replied reaching over and taking the woman's hand.

"Gosh, this was so girly, right." Felicity laughed drying her face with her hand. "I could never have a conversation like this with the guys."

"I'm always here for when you need to be a little girly Smoaks." Katie replied before standing to her feet. "And now while Bruce is away, I think I'm going to wander." and so Katie walked off to check out Bruce's toys.

The hunt for one man seemed to be a very big challenge for the people of Gotham. The Joker was proving to be a very hard man to locate by the police, and the team of heroes. In the course of just a few days, Lieutenant Gordon had faked his death after the Joker attempted to assassinate the Mayor. But the biggest turn of events was Harvey Dent standing in front of cameras and announcing that he was actually the Batman.

At first no one understood why the man would do such a thing, but then it made sense. This was a plan. A way to finally get a leg up on the Joker. They realized that they already knew what he wanted, and they were going to catch him the moment he tried to get it.

The night of Dent's fake revelation, he was loaded into the back of an armored car escorted by the SWAT team that would be taking him into protective custody. Oliver and Bruce had their posts. They would be trailing the truck at a distance while keeping an eye out for the Joker. Felicity stayed back at the bunker where she would be their eyes.

"You picking up anything Felicity?" Bruce asked through the comlink.

"Still nothing." Felicity replied as she kept her eyes peeled on the satellite images of the area.

"We're moving." Oliver announced and Felicity watched as the truck began moving. At this point they could do nothing but hope the Joker would make a move.

"Guys?" Felicity says when she sees the burning fire truck in the middle of the truck's routs.

"Eyes open." Bruce ordered knowing this was the moment they were waiting for. "He's here, I know it." Felicity gasps when she sees a truck, side swipe one of the police trucks knocking it off the road.

"Guys!"

"Felicity we're handling it, we're right on their tail!" Bruce annouced in annoyance.

"Well, you might be on their tail, but Katie is right on the head." Felicity replied and no one said anything for a moment. "Hello?"

"Felicity." Oliver spoke unusually calm. "What did you just say?"

"Well long story short, after you two told her that she couldn't be apart of operation clown take down, she just snuck after you two on one of Bruce's bikes." there was another brief moment of silence.

"Where is Robins now?" Bruce asked.

Felicity stared at the screen when she saw a gun fire and explosion erupting from what looked like a RPG, but her eyes went to the person on the motorcycle who seemed to jump onto one of the moving truck. The one where most of the fire power was coming from.

"I think she's with our clown friends." Felicity said in disbelief.

All eyes were on her. Well that's what Katie figures seeing as she couldn't really see their eyes, only the masks. But the moment she jumped on to the van, they all stopped shooting and looked over to her. It was the man who they'd been searching for that took a step forward.

"I'm sorry, you weren't invited on this party bus." The Joker said staring at the person who wore a motorcycle helmet hiding their face.

"I'm sorry." Came Katie's modulated voice. "But I just can't resist a good party." In a move too quick for anyone watching her to even prepare for, Katie reached into her pocket and tossed out a smoke bomb. In mere moments, the entire truck was filled with a thick smoke and before she knew it, the men in clown masks began shooting. Katie dodged the bullets as best she could, glad for Bruce's high tech helmet that helped her see through the smoke. She moved quick, punching and kicking and even tossing a few of the men out of the moving truck. Her eyes caught sight of the Joker and she was about to attack, when she was hit with something hard on her back. She stumble forward toward the opening of the truck, and with a swift turn she was being tossed out. It was by luck that she was able to grab the edge of the truck. A few of the Joker's men tried to grab her, but she moved slightly along the side of the outside of the truck. She gripped the truck, holding on as best as she could with each bump and turn, but she could feel her fingers slipping and she knew at any moment, she wouldn't be able to hold on any longer.

Suddenly the sound of a nearing engine hit her ears, and Katie turned as best she could in time to see the Arrow heading toward her on his motorcycle. He pulled up along side of her.

"Jump!" his modulated voice ordered and Katie took a deep breath before shifting herself in the right position, before pushing from the truck toward him. He caught her with one arm, while trying to steady the bike with other before Katie kicked her leg over the back of the bike, securing herself behind him before they sped away.

Oliver turned down a random street away from chase much to Katie's confusion. The moment they stopped she jumped off and pulled the helmet from her head.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded. "We have to go after them!"

"Bruce can handle it from here!" Oliver snapped angrily tossing the hood from his head. "What were you thinking. I told you—"

"Exactly!" Katie snapped angrily. "You told me, you ordered me and I do not take orders. We had a deal, we are a team and—"

"And you're punching mirrors, and not sleeping!" Oliver snapped and Katie didn't have a quick rebuttal for that. "When you're out there, your head must be totally and completely focused, can you honestly say you're focused right now?" Katie stared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Actually I can." she replied. "Sure, I can feel myself breaking on the inside and I want to yell and scream and break things, but I am never more focused then when I become that person who knows what she's fighting for. The Guardian is focused and she is smart and she is capable of standing at your side when the time comes."

"You coming out here by yourself—"

"I was never by myself." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I knew where you were, just like I knew where Bruce was. I had Felicity in my ear the entire time." Oliver shook his head before turning his back to her. Katie stood there for a moment waiting for him to say something finally. "I'm sorry." For some reason, that surprised the man. He turned back to her with a furrowed brow. "Not for coming out here tonight, I helped and more of the Jokers men are going to be scrapped off the ground and tossed in jail tonight."

"Then what are you apologizing for?" Oliver asked and Katie stared at him for a moment before glancing over to his bike. "Twinkie, what are you—" before he could even finish his question, Katie had ran over and hopped on the bike before speeding off. She heard him calling her name, but she didn't stop. Finding the Joker tonight was more than just stopping him. The moment he mentioned her father, it became a deeper mission for her. She needed answers.

There was a turned over truck, and police all over the place when Katie finally stopped. She stared in disbelief as the Joker was carted away in handcuffs.

"Shit." Katie muttered hoping to have a chance to talk with him before he was taken into custody. Her eyes looked around as she tried to think up another idea and soon one came to her. It was a stupid and very dangerous plan and yet at the moment it was the only thing she had. And so Katie slid from the bike and sifted through the growing crowd of onlookers. The area was being tapped off, when Katie decided to duck underneath the police tape.

"Hey!" an officer yelled out to her, but Katie kept walking. Soon there were officers surrounding her with guns pointed right at her. Katie stopped and held her hands in the air just as a very familiar face stepped in front of her.

"I thought you were dead." Katie said to the less than amused face of Lieutenant Gordon. Her eyes looked over to the Joker who was pushed into the back of a police car. "That bastard nearly killed a friend of mine." she turned back to Gordon. "He deserves to pay."

"Which he will, in court." Gordon says taking a step closer to the woman. "Now get your ass on the other side of my police tape." Katie stared at the man for a moment before turning as if about to walk away, but instead she quickly turned and ran toward the car the Joker had got into, only to be tackled to the ground and hand cuffed.

Katie always knew at some point she'd end up back in a cell. She just didn't think it would be in an actual jail this time. She laid on a hard mattress, ignoring the strange gaze from the woman in the cell across from her. Soon she heard footsteps, but she didn't move.

"And here I was thinking you were the smart one." came Gordon's disapproving tone. Katie stood to her feet and walked over to him, her hands resting on the bars that separated them. "That was a stupid move."

"I know, I'm sorry." Katie sighed. "It's just, that man has caused so much trouble, and I almost lost someone very close to me."

"If you want him to pay, then you let a jury put him in the deepest darkest hole they can find." Gordon said with a shake of his head. "And that's if he doesn't bleed to death before he can stand trial.

"What are you talking about?"

"Apparently the bastard was cut and it won't stop bleeding." Gordon said. "I'm trying to get someone out here, but most of them are busy cleaning up that mess he just caused."

"There's always plan B." Katie said and the man looked over to her with a quirked brow before she held out her hand through the bars. "Hello Gordy, I'm doctor Robins."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not, I'm right here and—"

"You just tried to attack the guy."

"I am also surrounded by lots of men with guns, I won't be dumb enough to try it again." Katie said and she could tell from the look in the man's eyes that he was thinking about it. "C'mon Gordy—"

"You keep calling me Gordy and I'm going to keep you in here."

"Fine, Lieutenant, this is what I do. I promise I will not try to kill the man." Gordon looked at her with a quirked brow. "I may make stitching him up hurt more than it should, but I don't think even you would object to that." Gordon opened his mouth to speak, when another officer walked over and whispered something to him before leaving. Gordon turned back to her and nodded.

"Fine."

"Just like that?"

"Well Mr. Queen just arrived and he doesn't seem too happy so I'm guessing you wouldn't do anything to upset him any more." Gordon said before reaching for and unlocking her cell. "You're going do everything I say and if you decide not to, then you're going to end up right back here, do you understand?"

"Yeah." Katie replied as she walked along side the man. "Were you serious about me not calling you Gordy?"

"Dead serious." the man replied not showing an ounce of amusement.

Katie followed Gordon through two sets of double doors before she spotted Oliver standing against a wall and Gordon was right, the man did not look happy. The moment his eyes looked over to her, he quickly pushed himself from the wall and walked over to her.

"Are you insane?" was the first question out of his mouth when he walked over to her. "I had to beg Lieutenant Gordon not to file charges against you." Katie glanced over her shoulder to Gordon who simply raised his hands with a shake of his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking." Katie said trying to portray some believable remorse. "But Gordon is going to let me off with a warning and in return I am going to help him by stitching up one of his inmates." Oliver looked at her in confusion before looking over to Gordon who still hadn't said a word. Katie looked over to Gordon as well. "I assume you have medical supplies in the precinct—"

"Wait." Oliver said and Katie turned to him. "Doesn't the police have people who can do this?"

"They do, but they're busy and I'm right here and volunteering." Katie said glancing over to Gordon. "The supplies."

"It's him isn't it?" Oliver asked glancing between Gordon and Katie. "You're letting her stitch up the Joker."

"Look right now I don't want to give that bastard's mob lawyer any ammo to try and accuse us of not giving him the proper medical care." Gordon said looking over to Katie. "And trust me, if I had any other choices right now, this woman would be the last person I would have do this, but my people will be watching him and her and if either one of them makes a move I don't like then no one will be happy." The look in Gordon's eyes was anything if not the most serious look Katie had seen on the man. It was obvious that making sure the Joker saw his day in prison was very important to him. Gordon turned back to Oliver. "You have my word that nothing will happen to her."

"I'm sorry Liutenent but your word is not good enough." Oliver replied looking to Katie. "I want to come with her."

"Liver—"

"Fine." Gordon answers and both Oliver and Katie turn to him. "Maybe he'll keep you in line. You're going to stitch him up, and that's it. If he talks to you, then you ignore him. Do you understand?" Katie simply nodded when suddenly and officer appeared with the precincts medical supplies before handing them to Katie. "I figure you're not going to need a lot a room to do this, so you're going to set up right over there." Gordon pointed to an empty desk over in the corner and Katie nodded before turning and walking over, Oliver right behind.

"What are you doing?" Oliver whispered over to her and Katie just shook her head before sitting down at the desk. She set up the instruments she would need before sliding on a pair of gloves as Oliver chose to stand against the wall behind her. "Whatever you're thinking just don't."

"I need answers about my father. I just want to see if he knows something." Katie whispered when suddenly, the noise of the station quieted down as the officer escorted the clown toward her. The moment the Joker's eyes met hers, his ever present smile seemed to widen.

"It must be my birthday." The Joker said as he was pushed into the seat across from her.

"I need your hand." Katie said looking down to his hands, which his had balled around some gauze. He didn't move for a moment, but soon he slid his hands across the table, opening them so she could see the cut. "All the damage that was caused tonight, the countless people injured and all you have is a little cut." Katie looked over the cut before grabbing some antiseptic wipes to clean it. Katie glanced up as she did, noticing the many eyes on them.

"You have his eyes." the Joker said cryptically and he smirked at the way she tensed up at the statement. She knew who he was talking about, and he had just found his pressure point. "Ole Jacob Robins was an interesting fellow." he watched her as she focused all of her attention on his hand, but he could see the clenching of her jaw as she did. "We were friends you know?" Katie stopped and looked up to the man and he chuckled because he had finally caught her attention. "Best friends." in that moment Katie just knew he was lying. She may not know the truth about her father and who he really is, but she can not even fathom a world where he would be friends with the man sitting in front of her. And so she dropped her eyes back to his hand. They sat in silence for a few moments as Katie begins pulling the needle through the cut.

"There once was a little Robin, sitting high on a limb searching for her daddy." came the taunting voice of the painted face man sitting in front of her. Katie chose to continue to ignore him as suggested by Gordon. She wants to ask him how he even knows about her search for her father, but figures he may have overheard her conversation with Oliver. She simply focuses on stitching up the deep cut on his blood covered hands. Oliver was standing behind her, and she could practically feel the intensity radiating off of him. He was standing there, ready to attack at any sudden movement made by the clown. "That Robin searched high and low for her daddy, but she didn't realize she never really had a daddy." her eyes looked to the man's dark eyes, his face smeared in his clown make up. "She had an impostor." Katie sat down the needle in her hand and leaned in slightly to the man. She felt Oliver move behind her as a smile suddenly curled at her lips and she knew anyone watching her thought she was probably more insane then the maniac in front of her.

"What shade of lipstick is that?" The clown seemed to stare at her for a moment, before an even sicker smile came to his face. Dry chuckles escaped his lips that turned into a bone chilling cackle. He leaned in closer to her as well, a move he thought might intimidate her, but she didn't move a muscle.

"Oh, I like you." he replied, his cackle seeming to get louder as officers finally pulled him away back to his cell. "I like you very much!"

Katie watched as he disappeared back to his cell before she pulled the gloves from her hand. She could feel Oliver's questioning gaze on the back of her head, but she was going to ignore it for as long as she could. She looked up to see Gordon walking over, and with him was Mayor Garcia.

"You were supposed to be quiet." Gordon said and Katie rolled her eyes as she stood to her feet.

"In the end you have a clown that's not bleeding anymore, so he should live to see his judge and jury." Katie said.

"Well I am grateful for your assistance doctor." Mayor Garcia said with a slight smile as he glanced between Oliver and Katie before turning to Gordon. "You want to take me to him." Gordon nodded before looking over to Katie.

"Go home, because if I see you again tonight, I'm throwing you in jail." Gordon threatened, but it only brought a smile to Katie's face. "I'm not kidding Kate, I don't care how long I've known you, I will put your ass in a cell." and with that, Gordon and the Mayor turned and walked off.

"He plays all tough but he wouldn't—" Katie turned to Oliver who still wore a deep scowl on his face.

"We're leaving now." Oliver said and Katie nodded before following him out of the building. There was a taxi waiting, that they both stepped into . The ride was brutally silence, until Katie noticed they weren't heading to the penthouse. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the air field." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with wide eyes. "We did what we came here to do, and now we're going back home." Katie opened her mouth to speak, but glanced over to the driver and decided to save it for when they got away from listening ears. The moment they arrived at the airport, Oliver grabbed their bags and walked toward the plane.

"That was too easy." Katie said trying to keep in pace beside the man. "He let them catch him for a reason. He's planning something."

"He's behind bars, everything else Bruce can handle himself." Oliver said not looking over to her. Katie angrily rushed to stand in front of him to stop him from walking. "Move."

"No, not until you listen to me. The Joker behind bars isn't the end of whatever he's doing. He wants to see this city burn and he's not going to let anything stop him. This team—"

"Since when are you apart of a team?" Oliver interrupted. "Nothing you have done at all has been as part of this team. You nearly got yourself killed before you got yourself thrown in jail and you did it without even thinking about this team you're apart of."

"And I don't have a reason! You're overprotective and controlling and you think you will fix me by taking away the one thing that has ever made sense to me." Katie stated with a shake of her head.

"No, I'm trying to protect you from the one thing I see is taking you away from me." Oliver said and that seemed to hit Katie hard. She didn't have a response to that because at the moment she didn't know if it were true or not. "You don't see it, but I do. The darkness inside of you, that darkness you want to ignore and pretend it's not there, it's there and it's strong and the more you feed into it, the more it will consume you." Katie turned her eyes away from him, because she knew he was starting to see the truth of her darkness, but she didn't think it was that obvious...or maybe she did.

"Guys." a familiar voice spoke and they both turned to see Felicity standing near the plane holding the handle of her suitcase. It was dark, but both Oliver and Katie could hear and see that something was slightly off with the woman. "I've been listening for the past couple of minutes and thought a little intervention was needed." she looked over to Katie. "Fine, you're screwed up a little bit, but given what you've gone through and what you're going through, that's expected, but you need to learn that you have to start thinking through the decisions you make." she turns to Oliver. "And she's right, you are controlling and I get it's because you love her, but you have to come to the conclusion that she's not just your girlfriend. She's apart of this team, and has proved countless times that she can handle the fight that comes her way." she looked between the couple and a tear she tried to hold in fell from her cheek. "You two have absolutely no idea how lucky you are to have found each other, so please stop fighting."

"Felicity?" Katie took a step forward and Felicity just shook her head before turning and walking onto the plane.

Oliver sat alone for a while, as Katie and Felicity sat further down the plane. He could see them talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying from his seat. After a while, Felicity seemed to finally doze off and Katie stood and walked back to sit beside Oliver.

"So what happened?" Oliver asked and Katie sighed.

"She told Bruce she loved him." Katie replied turning to him.

"And what, he broke up with her for that?"

"No, actually he told her that he loved her too." Katie replied glancing back over to the sleeping woman. "But that he couldn't afford to love her right now."

"What?"

"She didn't go into detail, but the gist was that this whole Joker thing made him realize that his city needed him more than ever. And he couldn't be the person he needed to be for his city and be the person she needed him to be at the same time and so he made a decision."

"He chose the mask over her." Oliver stated and Katie nodded. "That's—" for some reason, Oliver couldn't seem to fault the man for a decision he partly understood. It's a decision he hopes he’s never faced with because he thinks it would probably kill him to ever have to even consider letting Katie go. When Oliver doesn't finish the thought, Katie turns to him and she could practically see what he was thinking on his face. He turns to her, before taking her hand in his. "That's a cop out. He gave up and if it was that easy for him to give up on them, then maybe they weren't meant to be."

"Maybe." Katie said before closing her eyes and dropping her head to her shoulder."I'm sorry."

"Is that a real apology or are you going to go knock out the pilot and fly this plane back to Gotham?" Oliver asked and Katie let out a snort.

"I actually don't know how to fly a plane, but yes this is a real apology. I admit that sometimes I act before actually thinking and nine times out of ten it actually works for me." Katie opened her eyes and stared down to their conjoined hands. "For a very long time now I stopped being afraid of death. I actually started to expect it at every turn, so when I act it's never even a factor, which was fine when it was just me, but now—" Katie lifts her eyes to Oliver. "I will start being a little more careful."

"And I will try to not be so overprotective." Oliver replied before pressing a kiss to her bandaged hand. He looked at it for a moment as if remembering how it ended up like it did. "Felicity's right, you're not just my girlfriend, you're—" he smiled before looking back to her eyes. "You're a hero and I need to start treating you as such." Oliver leaned in closer to her, before bringing his lips to hers. "Which is why the next time we spar, I will not take it easy on you." Katie laughed and just nodded.

"Good, so when I kick your ass you'll know that you truly did give it your all."

When they arrived in Starling, it was the middle of the day. Felicity had set off back to her apartment, as Oliver and Katie headed back to the house. They were almost there when Oliver received a message from his sister.

"Everything alright?" Katie asks looking over to Oliver whose expression changes as he looks down to his phone.

"It's Thea, she says there's an emergency at the house." Oliver says glancing over to Katie who looks down to his phone with a furrowed brow. Soon they are pulling up in front of the mansion.

As Oliver and Katie head to the front door, Katie stood and Oliver turns to her.

"I think that maybe I should stay out here." Katie said glancing over to the house. "I haven't seen or spoken to your mother since she threatened to ruin my life, so I'm thinking I'll just wait out here until you get back."

"Look I shouldn't be long. I'm sure Thea's just being over dramatic. I'll be in and out and then we can head home." Oliver says before placing a kiss to her forehead before turning and entering the house. Once he's inside, Katie turns and drops to sit on the brick steps of the porch, letting out a long tired sigh as she does. Her entire body is exhausted, but she's not even sure she could even try to sleep. She stretches her neck a bit, and closes her eyes as she takes in the breeze that passes her.

_Katie made the big mistake of falling asleep when her destination was still uncertain. The last thing she remembers is being on a plane across from the man she once believed was a traitor, and if she were honest still believed that. When she awoken, she found herself lying in a bed, in clothes she doesn't remember putting on. _

_"Good, you're awake." A voice say suddenly, and Katie jolts up to see Martin sitting in a chair in front of the bed. _

_"Where am I?" _

_"It doesn't matter, because you won't be here for long." the man replied before tossing a folder on the bed in front of her. She doesn't move, but simply looks at it. "Open it." _

_"The last time I'm opened something from you, I was almost killed by a crazy woman." Katie replied with a shake of her head as she glances around the room trying to figure out where she is._

_"Just open it!" the man snapped and Katie turned back to him, before reaching forward and taking the folder and flipping it open only to find it empty. _

_"What is this?" Katie asked tossing the folder back to him. _

_"Nothing." Martin says standing to his feet and buttoning his jacket as he looks around the room. "For the moment you'll have a bit of nothing." he then turns and walks over to the door, and knocks only once before the door finally opens and in walks one of the soldier looking guys from before. "This is Aaron, his job is to make sure you stay in this room until it is time for you to leave." Katie looks from Martin to the man who doesn't even look at her as he stands with his hands clamped behind his back. "He is ordered to do whatever necessary to ensure that happens." and with that Martin leaves the room, his soldier behind him, leaving Katie in a strange room unsure how the hell she was going to get out of this. She stood to her feet and walked over to the window to see nothing but trees. Katie drops her head on the window when she suddenly hears the sound of gun fire from outside the room. She suddenly standing up straight, and at the ready to attack when the door suddenly burst open and there standing is a blonde haired man, wearing a tan trench coat. His eyes trail over her for a moment before he finally looks at her to see her eyes on the gun in his hand. _

_"Don't worry, I'm actually here to save you." came the man's british voice. _

_"Who are you?" Katie asks and the man simply smirks. _

_"A friend of your mother's" the man replies and Katie's eyes widen. _

_"My mother is dead." _

_"That doesn't mean she can't have friends now does it?" the man asks, glancing over his shoulder. "Now we can stand here and chit chat all you want, but I would vote against that." he looks back over to her. "More of them are coming, and I would very much not like to be here when they do." he pushed the door open and stepped out. "This is your rescue dear Robins, if I were you I would take it." Katie wasn't sure what the hell was happening, but at the moment the only thing she had was her instincts and for some reason they were telling her to follow the crazy british man and so she did. _

Katie's eyes open, unsure why that memory chose that moment to come back to her. To this day she doesn't completely understand the events that lead to her being rescued by an ass, but in the end it brought her step closer to getting home. Katie glanced down to her watch, noting that Oliver had been in there for a while. She stands to her feet and heads toward the door, when out of the blue something strikes her. It was strange, but in that moment a strange puzzle she couldn't piece together just fit. It was the soldier man, Aaron she remembers him being called and the way he was dressed in the black tactical gear, it was identical to the men who they'd come across back on the island who worked for their rabbit face man. Suddenly the pieces were falling into place, and it all made sense.

"Martin Ellis." Katie said before almost running into the mansion to find Oliver and tell him of her sudden realization that it was quite possible that the man behind the mask was none other than Martin Ellis himself. Katie stopped when she found Oliver standing in the living room, a shocked look on his face as he stares over to a man with an eye patch that is standing with Moira.

"And who might this be?" the man said, his accent distinctive, but raspy. His eyes went to Katie, and Oliver instinctively, took a step forward, but Katie caught his arm.

"This is Katherine." Moira said with a slight smile as she stared in confusion between her son and the man. "Oliver's girlfriend." Moira glanced over to Katie with a nod. "Katie, this is Slade Wison."

"Of course it is." Katie muttered turning back to eye the man that's supposed to be dead.


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER 19**

**THE WALKING DEAD**

_"I've always felt that if you back down from a fear, _

_the ghost of that fear never goes away._

_It diminishes people."  
_

_-Hugh Jackman_

* * *

At some point in Katie's life, dead men who aren't really dead just didn't surprise her anymore. It seemed to be a reoccurring theme in her life, one she doesn't really like. She knew the dead man standing in front of her really was dangerous, which is why she watched every move he made very closely. Katie glanced over to Oliver who was still staring slightly wide eyed as if he'd seen a ghost. And in that moment, she realized that he was staring at a ghost from his past.

"You know, when I look at your mother—" Slade said turning with a smile to Moira as he moved to place a hand on her back. It was a move that made Oliver stand a bit straighter. "—I think about everything that you went through after the quake. All I can say is, you and I have something in common."

"What's that?" Oliver asked.

"I know how difficult it is to pick yourself back up when other people have written you off." Slade said turning to Moira with another endearing smile that the majority of the people in the room knew was wholeheartedly anything but. He looked back to Oliver his smile growing a bit.

"What's wrong, Mr. Queen? You look a little piqued."

"We just came back from a trip." Katie decided to answer taking a step forward so she stood next to Oliver. "We're both just a little out of it I guess."

"Right." Oliver said turning to Katie and holding out the keys to her. "Why don't you head home now." he stared into her eyes hoping she saw the seriousness he held, which she did, but really didn't care.

"That would be rude Oliver." Katie said turning back to Slade with a smile of her own. "Mr. Wilson came here for a reason, we might as well witness it first hand." Slade's eyes lingered on her for longer than Oliver would've liked.

"And I would very much like you here then." Slade replied looking over to Oliver. "You know Mr. Queen, if I had someone as beautiful as your dear Katherine, at my side, I would never let her out of my sight." Katie took a quick step forward, and looped her arm around Oliver's catching him before he could take that step he was so close to taking.

Suddenly one of the maids rolled in a drink cart, and Moira smiled thanking the woman.

"Mr. Wilson was kind enough to bring a bottle of authentic Australian rum." the woman said, and both Oliver and Katie glanced over to the cart, both noting the ice pick that sat beside the bucket. Both recognized it as a easily accessible weapon if needed. "Will you two join us for a drink?"

"Yes." Oliver said glancing over to Katie who subtly shook her head. "Of course."

"It's still kind of early for me." Katie replied with a smile as she turned back to Moira and then Slade. "Plus I've never been one to hold her alcohol well."

"You know I think I will remember that." Slade replied as he went to pour the rum in to three glasses. And so they drank. Katie and Oliver would trade looks ever so often for the next moments as Slade milled about the room, complimenting the artwork. They figured they were both wondering the same thing and that was what could Slade be planning.

Slade was standing, admiring a painting, when Moira told him how Robert was a collector of 19th century American landscapes.

"I'd love to see them." Slade suggested with a smile as he turned.

"Maybe some other time." Oliver said, his tone harsh as he stood to his feet. "We have some family business to discuss." he looked over to his mother, hoping she would get that he wanted the man gone, but instead she just shook her head.

"I'm sorry." Moira said standing to her feet and walking around to Slade. "My son seems to have forgotten his manners." She glanced over to Oliver. "Actually Oliver, would you come with me, there is something I would like to speak to you in person." the moment the words left his mother's mouth, Oliver's eyes instantly went to Katie and then to Slade, who suddenly was smiling.

"Mom, I don't think—"

"It won't take up too much of your time I promise. And I'm sure Katherine and Mr. Wilson will get along just fine." Moira replied.

"I'm positive we will." Slade added with a nod directed only to Oliver. Oliver turned away to Katie who shrugged. The last thing in the world he wanted to do in this moment is leave Katie in a room alone with Slade Wilson.

"Well there you go." Moira said, looking to her son, who still only looked to Katie. "Oliver?"

"Right." he said turning to his mother, who nodded before walking toward the door. He looked between Katie and Slade once more before following behind his mother.

The moment Oliver left, Katie felt a shift in the room, and her eyes immediately went to Slade, who seemed to be staring right at her with a very annoying grin.

"You and Mr. Queen look happily in love." Slade stated turning back to the painting that hung high on the wall. "I once knew a love like that."

"What do you want?" Katie asked and the man turned to her with a quirked brow. "Oh please Mr. Wilson, you can stop the act. I know who you are."

"Oh I very much doubt that my dear." The man said turning to her and looking her over once again. "But I would say I know a lot more about you." he took a few more steps toward the woman, slightly amused that she didn't cower away like most would in her position. He found himself standing right in front of her, holding her intense gaze before leaning in slightly. "Twinkie—" Katie knew he didn't hear Oliver slip back into the room, grabbing the ice pick from the cart and sneaking behind the man. She thought the moment had come when Oliver would end Slade, but she was wrong. Oliver swung the ice pick to stab the man, only for Slade to catch his wrist. There was a slight smirk on his lips that he turned to Katie who didn't seem too surprised at Oliver's actions.

Suddenly the front door opened and a new voice tore through the room.

"Mom!" Thea called. "Ollie!" Katie glanced from the men, before rushing from the room to catch Thea. "Twinkie? Are you with Ollie, because he's been totally MIA for the past couple of days."

"Well we were in Gotham and—"

"You two went to Gotham without me!?" Thea exclaimed with wide eyes before shaking her head. "You guys suck." she glanced around Katie where she thought she spotted her brother. "You know I wanted to check out their new boutiques." Thea walked around Katie toward the living room and Katie quickly turned to follow. They both walked to see both men turned now facing them as they walked inside. "You went to Gotham, without me!"

"Thea, now is not a good time." Oliver said sharply, hoping the woman would get the hint, but like his mother it just went right over her head. Thea turned with a smile to Slade.

"Who's your friend?" Thea asked and Slade put on a charming smile before taking a step forward and gently taking the woman's hand.

"Slade Wilson." he introduced himself, and Katie could see Oliver tense up the moment the man touched his sister. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard wonderful things from your mother."

"About me?" Thea asked with a slight giggle.

"Thea what perfect timing." Moira said coming back into the room. "This is Slade Wilson and I—"

"They've met." Oliver said angrily, his agitation becoming too obvious for anyone to miss. Moira simply sent her son a glare before turning back to her daughter.

"I was about to show him our collection, but you're far more better suited." Moira said glancing back to Slade and nodding for him to follow. "Come." she began leading them out of the room when Katie and Oliver share a look before following.

Both Katie and Oliver were entirely focused on the man they knew was dangerous. Katie glanced over to Oliver who seemed to keep his distance from her as they walked through the halls listening as Thea went on about the artwork along the walls. She turned back to see Slade admiring the painting.

"Then you must never sell it." Slade said turning to Thea before glancing back to Oliver. "I believe when we lose someone we have the obligation to honor their memory." soon the man's eyes went to Katie who hadn't spoken a word for the majority of tour. "Wouldn't you agree doctor?" Katie glanced over to Oliver who suddenly refused to look at her, before turning back to Slade whose eyes were still on her awaiting her answer. "You lost your father as well, didn't you? Jacob I believe his name was." There was a slight smirk on his face when he said it that she only seemed to notice. She had to ignore her first instinct which was to punch the man, so she dropped her head and remembered the knives harnessed to her ankles.

"Jacob Robins is still a sore subject for Katie." Moira chose to answer with a slight smile. "The death of a loved one is not something that can easily be forgotten."

"I couldn't agree with you more Moira." Slade replied before turning back to Thea. "Shall we continue with the tour." Thea smiled before walking down the hall with the man, her mother behind her. Oliver watched them closely, before turning to Katie who hadn't moved. She looked over to him before walking over, both looking down the hall where the others had stopped to admire another painting.

"You need to leave." Oliver whispered over to her and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow. "I want you to—"

"That's not happening." Katie interrupted before looking back down the hall to see Slade look back to them. "I'm not going anywhere." she took Oliver's hand in hers and pulled him to walk with her. "Like it or not Liver, I'm your back up now."

As they walked a sudden idea struck Katie, and at the moment when ideas weren't in abundance, she was inclined to just go with it. She suddenly let go of Oliver's hand and he looked over to her in confusion.

"Just go with it." she mouthed to him before she suddenly fainted. He quickly moved to catch her before she could hit the ground.

"Katie?!" he yelled and Moira, and Thea quickly ran over, as Slade seem to just saunter behind.

"Oh my god!" Thea cried dropping beside her brother who held the woman in his arms. "What happened?!"

"I don't know, she just passed out." Oliver said glancing over to Slade with a dark look before looking back down to Katie.

"You should call 911." Moira suggested worry obvious in her voice. Oliver quickly took out his phone before dialing a number and bringing the phone to his ear. After he hung up the phone, Oliver hoisted her up into his arms.

"I'm going to lay her down in my room until they get here." Oliver said before looking over to Slade. "Maybe it's time to end this little tour."

Oliver carried Katie to his room where he laid her on his bed. His mother and Thea both followed in after him before Oliver stood up straight.

"I'll show Mr. Wilson out." Oliver said and his mother quickly caught his arm.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. You've been a bit rude since you got here." Moira chided.

"Don't worry, at the moment I'm just concerned about Katie." Oliver said glancing to the woman who lie in the bed. "I'll be back." Moira seemed hesitant, but nodded before watching her son leave the room. She looked over to Thea who sat on the edge of Oliver's bed holding Katie's hand.

"I bet she's pregnant." Thea said turning to her mother once Oliver was out of the room. "Wouldn't that be awesome."

"I'm not sure that is the right word dear." Moira replied coming to the other side of the bed and taking a seat. "It's still pretty early for them to even be thinking about children."

"Just marriage I guess." Thea muttered and her mother shot her a look. "What? Oliver told me about the ring you gave him."

"I didn't give it to him to propose, I gave it to him for when he's ready." Moira replied turning back to Katie. "For whomever he feels should wear it."

"What are you talking about? That ring is going on this woman's finger." Thea smiled slightly turning back to Katie. "I'd bet my life on it." Moira didn't say anything before she stood to her feet.

"I should go make sure your brother wasn't rude to Mr. Wilson."

"What is up with that?" Thea asked looking to her mother. "He's being a complete ass." Moira turned away, figuring her son's attitude had more to do with her than Mr. Wilson.

"I'm not sure." Moira chose to answer. "I'll try to talk to him." and with that Moira walked from the room leaving Thea still holding Katie's hand. Thea stared at the woman before sliding along side her and laying her head on her shoulder.

"You're so pregnant." Thea said, her hand going to Katie's belly. "I'm going to be an aunt and I'm going to—" suddenly Katie's hand jolted up and caught the woman's hand on her stomach. Thea quickly jumped up to see Katie's eyes opened, searching the room. "Hey, you're alright." Katie turned her eyes to Thea.

"What happened?" Katie asked, her voice rough and weak. She tried sitting up, but only dropped back down.

"Don't try to get up." Thea said sitting up from the bed. "You fainted during the tour. Do you remember?" Katie just shook her head before glancing around the room.

"Where's Oliver?" she asked and Thea glanced over to the door.

"He was showing Mr. Wilson out. He called 911, they maybe here." Thea said and Katie dropped her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh.

"I can't believe this." she muttered.

"So tell me." Thea said and Katie opened her eyes and looked over to her. "Are you pregnant?"

"No, I'm not pregnant Thea!" Katie replied with a shake of her head. "There are a million and one reasons why I could've fainted and me being pregnant is not one of them."

"Whatever you say." Thea replied still not completely convinced. "I'm going to go see what's keeping Ollie." Katie simply nodded before watching the woman stand and leave the room.

Thea was walking down the stairs when she spotted her boyfriend standing at the door talking to Sara.

"Where did you two come from?" Thea asked and they both turned to her.

"Hey." Roy said with a smile as he walked over to bring her into her arms. "I actually came to see you. Your brother let me in before he walked out your guest or whatever." Thea nodded but couldn't help but feel he wasn't being completely honest. She simply nodded before looking over to Sara.

"What are you doing here?" Thea asked and Sara simply shrugged.

"I was bored and thought I would find Oliver and Katie here." the woman lied, but before Thea could question her more, Oliver had came back into the house, his eyes looking to Sara and slightly shaking his head before turning to Thea.

"Katie's awake, and wondering where you are." Thea replied and Oliver nodded before heading up the stairs. "Is 911 one still coming?" as if on cue there was a ring of the bell and Sara took a step forward to open the door and in came the EMTs.

Oliver stood outside his door when the EMTs went into his room, and asked that he wait outside. He'd been there for almost a half an hour before the door opened and out came the two men.

"Is she alright?" Oliver suddenly asked rushing over to the men.

"She's fine. Most likely low blood sugar. She said she hasn't been eating regularly which is the most probable cause for her fainting. Make sure she eats, even if she doesn't want to, just make sure she does." the EMT ordered.

"I will, thanks." Oliver said shaking both men's hand.

"We will show ourselves out." the men replied before turning and heading down the hallway. The moment they were gone, Oliver hurried inside of his room making sure to close the door behind him.

"You're insane." Oliver said looking over to Katie who was sitting up from the bed. "And a genius."

"I know." she replied standing to her feet and stretching a bit. "I thought you were going to call for help, not the actually EMTs."

"I did. I called Felicity, who I assumed figured it might look suspicious if they didn't show up." Oliver replied walking over to stand in front of the woman. "Next time warn me before you toss yourself to the floor."

"Why would I do that? We'd lose the authenticity of the moment." Katie replied before placing her hands on his chest. "Slade?"

"Still alive." Oliver said, his jaw clenching at the fact that those words were even coming out of his mouth. "I can't believe it, I just—" Katie placed her hands on the sides of his face and he let out a deep sigh. "If he's here, then this is only about revenge." his eyes met hers. "He wants a fight, then I will give it to him, but I can't have my biggest weakness here for him to take advantage of. Which he will, it's only a matter of time of when."

"Doesn't this conversation sound familiar?" Katie asked dropping her hands to her side. "Oliver, I was right where you are right now, hell I still am, but you told me that together we could beat him. And right now I'm telling you the same will go for Slade Wilson." Oliver's hands slid to Katie's waist, pulling her so there was no space between them.

"I'm taking you home." Oliver declared and Katie simply nodded.

When they returned home, Katie didn't expect to find that their house was not empty. When they walked inside, they found John with an ice pack to his head, Sara leaning against the wall, and Felicity sitting on the couch with her laptop in her lap.

"I called, told them to meet us here." Oliver said and Katie simply nodded before turning back to her friends. "Where's—"

"I swear there's no food in their kitchen, but this—" Roy walked from the kitchen holding a bowl of what looked like the ice cream Katie had been dying to eat since they came back to Starling. "Oh, hey guys."

"Why is Roy here?" Katie asked turning to Oliver. Even after all of this time, Katie had yet to fully admit to being on this team even though Roy already figured it out.

"Really?" Roy said walking over to the woman and taking a bite of his ice cream. "This is getting crazy. I know you're apart of the Arrow team. I figured Oliver probably wouldn't be able to keep something this big from you for long so you can stop pretending." Katie just furrowed her brow in confusion and Roy rolled his eyes before looking over to Oliver. "So dead guy whose now walking among us?" Roy lifted his spoon to take another bite, but Katie knocked the spoon from his hand and grabbed the bowl.

"Rule number one of Team Robins?!" Katie asked a bit loudly so everyone can hear.

"Don't eat Katie's ice cream." came their muttered response. Katie simply shook her head before storming into the kitchen.

"We're really not called team Robins, are we?" Roy asked looking over to the others who just shook their heads.

"Sometimes it's just better to just go with it." Felicity replied before looking over to Oliver. "You want to fill us in on your zombie friend?" Oliver simply nodded before walking over and finally revealing the story of one Slade Wilson.

Once Katie had finished her ice cream, she returned to the others in the mist of a bit of a question answer surrounding the topic of Slade Wilson. She sat down on the couch beside Felicity and just quietly listened.

"Look I don't even know how this is possible, but what I do know is that this man is dangerous and will do anything to hurt me." Oliver said before glancing over to John. "I want you to keep a close eye on Felicity—"

"Wait, what?" Felicity commented looking between the man, but Oliver didn't even stop his orders as he turned to Sara.

"Stick close to your sister, he may try something with her." Oliver said and Sara simply nodded.

"And I guess that leaves me to keep an eye on Thea." Roy added and Oliver nodded in his direction.

"And me to keep an eye on the Arrow." Katie said looking over to her boyfriend who gave a slight smile before glancing back up to the others.

After that, there wasn't anything for anyone to do and so they cleared out. Once everyone was gone, Oliver stood in the same spot for a few moments before turning and walking out of the living room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Katie asked, knowing this sudden appearance by Slade was affecting the man far more than he was showing. Oliver glanced over to her and just shook his head. So Katie stood to her feet and walked over to stand in front of him. "We have escaped capture on a horrible island, have been searching for my father's body, traveled to Gotham to meet a psychotic clown, and came back where a dead man now walks." Katie placed her hands over Oliver's chest and let out a long sigh. "And right now I just want you to take me to bed and make me forget all about it for a little while." Oliver's hands went to grip her waist before leaning in to bring his lips to hers. In one quick move, Oliver lifted the woman off of her feet and into his arms, bridal style before carrying her toward the stairs.

When he finally fell asleep, Katie quietly sneaked from the room down the stairs out to the back porch where she found a familiar face waiting for her.

"You're late, and I'm tired. Why am I here?" Lyla asked standing from the steps and turning to Katie.

"Fine, Martin Ellis, where is he?" Katie asked and Lyla's brow furrows in confusion.

"Ellis went dark years ago, we lost track of him and we assumed after everything that happened with you and your father he would be smart enough to go underground."

"Well he's not that smart. I think my father's loyal assistant has a new face and has a fetish with rabbit masks." Katie said and Lyla's eyes widened at the woman's words. "Tell me ARGUS knew nothing about this?"

"Of course we didn't." Lyla said with a shake of her head. “He’s been off the radar for years. Since you left the agency.” she looked back up to Katie. "That's it. That's when all communications with the man stopped. Are you sure it's him?"

"I am and the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. These lessons, they're all things my father wanted me to learn, so maybe this is Martin's way of seeing if I truly learned them."

"I thought you said there was a boss. Someone he's working for?" Katie just shrugged.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that if I'm right and this is really Martin, then I have a lot of explaining to do because I told Oliver and the others that Martin was dead, just like I was told." Katie said and Lyla turned her head. "If I have to tell them the truth, that I didn't witness this man being shot in front of me after he tried to save my life, then I want to know why."

"Don't worry, this lead may help us. Martin was a bit of Liason between us and your father while he was here in Starling. He was a creature of habit, so maybe we can look into his past to see if there is anything that could lead us to him." Katie just nodded. "You know it makes sense that he may be behind your father's disappearance."

"I was thinking the same thing." Katie sighed. "The problem is, that we're no longer the only ones looking for him." Lyla looked up in confusion once again. "Have you heard of Superman?"

"Of course, he's a bit of a hot topic at the agency. "Lyla replied cryptically. "What about him?"

"He's in Starling, or around Starling, I don't know, but he came here and told me that he's going to find out where my father is. Said something about my father helping him once upon a time. Do you know anything about that? "

"A lot of your father's files are above my clearance level."

"So any answers I may be looking for may only be answered by the bitch I'm forever plotting how I can kill one day?" Katie asked and Lyla just nodded. "That's just perfect. Look I won't reveal this whole Martin theory until I'm certain that it's fact. I know Waller is all about need to know, but I really need to know if this is really him."

"I will let her know." Lyla said backing away. "Look be careful. With Jacob dead, if this really is Martin, we have no idea where his head could be right now."

"I will be as careful as I can be with so many psychotic people after me." Katie deadpanned before turning and heading inside of the house.

When Katie walked into the house, she had an immediate feeling of being stuck. There was no clear path or direction for her to go and Katie simply slid to the floor, her back against the back door in the dark kitchen.

_Katie is not sure at what point in her life, all the twists and turns, she ended up following behind some man who she would say should fire his hairdresser for the bad dye job, down a long country road. They'd been walking for a while since the man apparently rescued her from that random house Martin had left her in. Ever since the man said he was a friend of her dead mother's, she just wasn't sure what the right conversation starter is and so she decided to keep it simple. _

_"What's your name?" she asked and the man glanced over his shoulder with a slight smile. _

_"Oh, she speaks." the man drawls, his accent more breathy than before. "I was wondering when you'd finally stop being scared." _

_"When did I start being scared?" Katie asked and the man chuckled turning back to the road ahead. "You have yet to answer my question." _

_"My name is not important. What is important is getting you to the train station that's a couple of miles a head." he said pointing to the sign that said the there was a train station twenty miles ahead. Katie glanced up to the sign and her face scrunched at the thought of having to walk any further. She glanced back over to the man whose trench coat moved in the wind behind him. _

_"You said you were a friend of my mothers." _

_"I said I am a friend of your mother's." he corrected and Katie waited for him to continue, but he said nothing and at this point the mystery of this man was just plain annoying and so she stopped walking. The man had only taken a couple of more steps when he realized she wasn't behind him and so he stopped and turned to her. "Let's go, we only have a couple of more hours of sun light and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on this stupid road in the middle of the night with your friends after us." _

_"You are my mother's friend. What does that mean?" Katie chose to ask. _

_"It means just as it sounds love, now move your damn feet before we're late for your ride out of this forsaken place!" he snapped angrily before glancing to the side as if listening to something. He let out an annoyed sighed with a shake of his head before looking to Katie. _ _"Your name is Katherine Elena Robins, your favorite color is yellow, you're a doctor and upon your first tour of Doctor's without boarders you were kidnapped by a group who calls themselves ARGUS, and then you were captured by the League of Assassins before—"_

_"Alright, you know a lot about me, how?!" Katie snapped angrily before walking to stand in front of the man so he could see the seriousness in her eyes. The man glanced over her shoulder and sighed before looking back to her eyes. _

_"Do you believe in magic love?" he finally asked and Katie quirked a brow in confusion. "Your mother did, and it's the reason you're here right now." _

Katie opened her eyes back to the dark kitchen wondering why she was suddenly being hit with the memories of the most confusing part of her life. Well that was almost true, as she now figures now is the most confusing moment in her life. With the demon still lurking in the background and Martin Ellis pulling strings in her life she didn't even know he could, then there was the fact that there was now a dead man walking in their city who she knows has very sinister plans for her city, but even after all of that, there was still one thing she's the most confused about.

It happened the moment she spoke with the EMTs earlier and one asked her when she'd had her last period and for the life of her she couldn't remember. Katie glanced down, her hand sliding across her stomach slowly, quietly praying that Thea wasn't on to something.


	20. LET'S SEE WHERE THE TRUTH LEADS

**Chapter 20**

**  
LET'S SEE WHERE THE TRUTH LEADS**

_"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered;_

_the point is to discover them."_

_-Galileo Galilei_

* * *

It's funny how all the issues, and problems of your life can be simply pushed aside by a mere possibility. Days had passed and Katie found her drive and determination to fight the evil doers who are out to get her, slowly fleeting at the realization that she still had yet to have a period.

In her head she had justified every possible reason behind the phenomenon, and yet she found herself too afraid to actually do the one thing she knew she had to do to prove otherwise. Ever since Slade's arrival, Oliver had been totally and completely focused on finding the man, which Katie wasn't at all upset about. She was afraid if Oliver had paid too much attention to her, he'd see just how anxious and nervous she really was.

For the first time in the past couple of days, Oliver had finally left her side. He'd been her human shadow, practically attached to her at the hip, still afraid Slade's plans would somehow include her. It was the return of another familiar face that pushed Oliver into action and that woman was Helena. Katie remembered the name, but didn't get the full story until recently, about the woman having issues with her father and desperately wanting to kill him for being behind the death of the man she loved. Katie chose to take a backseat on the whole Helena take down, which Oliver didn't seem to mind. Hours earlier they had gotten the call that Helena had been captured and Katie stood silently awaiting Oliver and Sara's return down in the basement of the club with John and Felicity.

It was when John had excused himself to the bathroom, did Katie decide to make her move and so she hurried to the seat beside Felicity and quickly sat, slightly startling the woman.

"What's happening?" Felicity asked suddenly nervous at the woman's abruptness.

"Alright, we have about two minutes before John comes out of that bathroom, and maybe ten before Oliver comes back and we never have just a few moments alone." Katie said all in one breath before inhaling deeply and releasing the breath. "I need a favor Felicity, and I need you to promise on your life that you will not say a word to anyone." Felicity's brow seemed to furrow as she swiveled her chair to face the woman completely.

"Please don't tell me you've found another dark secret that involves Oliver and is going to kill me to keep?"

"Well sort of, but it's not as dark as it seems." Katie said glancing over to the bathroom door before turning to Felicity. "Felicity, I think I—" they suddenly heard footsteps and both women turned to the stairs where Sara was coming down, already removing pieces of her suit. She stopped walking when she saw both Felicity and Katie just staring at her.

"Am I interrupting something?" Sara asked and Katie simply shook her head before standing to her feet, ignoring the look of concern on Felicity's face.

"Where's Oliver?" Katie asked looking over to the woman.

"He decided to visit Helena in lock up. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen." The woman replied letting out a deep breath.

"He's a hero and she's a damsel." Katie replied with a shrug and both Felicity and Sara looks over to her. "A very screwed up damsel, but a damsel, he's still trying to help her."

"Whatever you say." Sara mutters as she goes over to change out her canary suit. Soon John comes from the bathroom, and Felicity stands to her feet as she watches the man walk over to Sara. Felicity moves to stand beside Katie.

"Is everything alright?" Felicity whispers while the other two people in the basement are conversing with one another across the room.

"I don't know." Katie whispered back as she turned toward the woman. "But to know for certain, I need to get away for a couple of hours." Felicity's eyebrow shoot up.

"Are you crazy, there is absolutely no way Oliver is going to be alright with you venturing out there alone with Slade still lurking out there." Felicity said and Katie sighed. "What's going on?" Katie took a deep breath and decided to just say it.

"I'm late." Katie said simply and for a moment Felicity didn't understand, but then it suddenly clicked and the woman's eyes widen. Before the woman could even reply, more feet were coming down the stairs and appeared Roy, who looked totally angry. "Roy, are you—" he simply held up a hand, as he walked off to the other side of the basement away from the others. "I should—" Katie made to go check on the man, when Felicity caught her arm and pulled her a bit further from the others.

"Oh no you don't. You don't drop something like that on me." Felicity whispered still staring a bit wide eyed as a smile crept to her lips. "This is great, this is—"

"Felicity I don't know for certain yet, I have to actually take a test first which is going to be next to impossible, seeing as Oliver is everywhere all the time." Katie muttered with a shake of her head.

"Why don't you tell him, I'm sure he won't freak out." Felicity said, thinking it over she had to reconsider. "Much."

"I can't tell him until I'm one hundred percent positive. With everything happening right now, I don't want to pile something like this on him if it's not necessary." Katie sighed.

"Alright, a test. They sell them at drug stores, I could—" Felicity turned and looked over to John and Sara. "That won't work since John has become my own personal watchdog. Unless..." the woman stopped talking when Katie's phone suddenly buzzed.

"It's Oliver, he's upstairs." Katie says reading the text before looking over to Felicity. "Look, I'll just figure it out." she glanced over to Roy. "See if you guys can figure out what’s wrong with him." and with that the woman turned and went up the stairs to the club. She found Oliver standing by the bar alone. "Liver or Drunk Liver, that is the question." she heard a small chuckle before he turned to her, which is when she saw he actually didn't have a drink in front of him. "You know it feels like you've been gone forever." she walked over to him, and the moment she was close enough, Oliver arm wrapped around her. "How did it go?"

"Hopefully this helps her. Her dad is finally gone, so maybe she can get some real help and move past this finally." Oliver said and Katie sighed before dropping her head to his chest. "I know we haven't been as focused on finding your dad—"

"I get it." Katie said lifting her head to meet his eyes. "Really I get that right now actual living bad guys trump the whole missing corpse dad." The truth was that if they weren't as focused on finding her father, she wouldn't feel as guilty about not telling them about her theory about Martin. She was still waiting to hear back from Lyla and until then as long as no one was asking questions she still didn't need to volunteer answers.

"We will find him, I promise." Oliver replied before leaning in a chaste kiss to her lips.

"I know." she said before glancing around the empty bar. She was still nervous about looking into the man's eyes for too long, afraid he'll just see all the secrets she's hiding.

"Hey, are you alright?" Oliver asked noticing that nervousness she was trying to hide. Katie turned back to him with a shake of her head.

"Um, I was just wondering what was going on with Roy. He's upset about something."

"He broke up with Thea." Oliver said and Katie stared in disbelief. Roy and Thea were sickeningly in love, which made this sudden break up unbelievable. "It was for the best."

"The best?" Katie asked unsure what Oliver meant by that, which also made her think that he'd had some input on this decision. She took a slight step back, out of his grasp as she awaited him to continue. "What did you do?"

"The Mirakuru in Roy's system makes him dangerous and unpredictable, which I got to witness firsthand. That's not the kind of man I want around my sister." Katie stared with wide eyes at the man. "Katie—"

"Oliver you had absolutely no right to do that. I thought you were helping him try to control it."

"I am helping him and I will continue to help him, but my sister's safety will always come first. He needs to learn more control and until he does, he needs to stay away from Thea." Katie shook her head before turning back to the man. This was yet another one of those moments she just hated how much she knew the man in front of her. It was yet another situation in which he thought leaving the person you loved was the answer. That thinking scared her.

"Twinkie—"

"He is hurting." Katie said turning back to Oliver. "You need to go down there and talk to him."

"It's late and I need to get you home." Oliver said taking a step forward, only for Katie to take another step back. "I don't want this to come between us."

"I don't either, but here it is. You don't see it, but one day I really hope you will Oliver. You do not know what is best for everyone. Just because you find yourself leading this team, does not mean you know what you're doing all of the time. Especially when it comes to this." she turned about to head back down to the basement.

"When it comes to what?"

"You're dangerous." Katie said suddenly turning back to Oliver and he looked at her in confusion. "There is this madman who is determined to hurt you in the worse way possible, so in turn that makes being with you dangerous and unpredictable." she took a couple of steps forward, but stopped in front of him. "And you know it, which means Roy's decision is looking more and more like a decision you're thinking heavily on lately."

"That is not true." Oliver stated firmly closing the short distance between them. His eyes searched hers, hoping she could see those words were true, even if he wasn't completely sure himself. "I love you and there is nothing—"

"I'm so sorry." came a new voice and Oliver groaned in annoyance before looking up to see Felicity who looked slightly embarrassed at interrupting the obvious serious conversation. "I was about to head home and I was just seeing if Katie was ready." Oliver's brow furrowed in confusion before looking back to Katie. "She didn't tell you yet?"

"Tell me what?" Oliver asked and Katie's eyes dropped from his.

Katie let out a sigh, realizing what Felicity was doing and so she decided to just go along with it.

"I'm staying the night at Felicity's." Katie said looking back to Oliver. "The whole Slade thing attacking at any moment is kind of making her nervous and so I told her I would stay with her for the night just to prove that she's safe." Oliver looked back over to Felicity who just nodded.

"Felicity, why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't I come out and say I'm a little scared by this guy who calls himself Deathstroke to all my hero friends?" the woman shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't want to seem wimpy."

"You're not a wimp and I promise you are safe. John is—"

"I know John is watching, but he can't be there all the time. He has a life and he can't be my night guard for the rest of his life." Felicity said walking over. "Look, it's just one night you will have to be away from your Twinkie."

"And her staying for the night will make you feel safe?" Oliver asked and Felicity glanced over to Katie who looked to her as well. Oliver couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on here.

"Yes it will." Felicity said with certainty in her voice. "Just one night." Oliver looked between the women for a moment, before looking to Katie turned away from him.

"Fine, but I think for the night, Sara should come along on this little sleepover." Oliver said and both gave him confused looks. "I will feel better knowing there is someone there who is more familiar with Slade, and the way he moves."

"Fine, then it's settled." Felicity said with a smile before looking to Katie. "I'm going to go grab Sara and then we'll meet you at the car." Katie nodded before the woman rushed off down the basement.

"I thought Sara was keeping an eye on Laurel." Katie said turning back to Oliver.

"I will stop around Laurel's place to make sure she's alright." Oliver said and Katie rolled her eyes before turning to walk away, but Oliver quickly caught her arm stopping her. "Katie—"

"You don't go inside her place." Katie ordered turning back to the man. "You do a sweep outside the place, make sure it's secure and then you leave." a smile came to the man's face, a little amused at the woman's sudden jealousy. "I'm not joking."

"I know." Oliver replies pulling her back to him and she took a deep breath before placing her hands on his chest. It was the contact that they both needed in this moment. "So this story about Felicity not feeling safe—"

"She's just feeling a little lonely since Bruce. She probably just needs someone to talk to. I mean he won't even answer her calls. Even after what happened to Rachel and Harvey. He's shutting her out, hell me too. She's just taking it a little harder." Oliver's hands slide to Katie's waist and inhaled deeply.

"You know how much I really don't like this."

"I do. But I think you need some time to think. I mean really think because I hate not knowing what you're thinking. I kind of liked being the Liver whisperer, but you're changing up on me." she placed a hand on his cheek.

"I'm going to kiss you now and you're going to stop talking and just let me." Oliver said, and Katie simply smiled before his lips met hers. Their issues weren't even close to being solved, and yet neither seemed in a rush to start picking at it.

Once the girls were gone, Oliver and John stood in the basement sitting sharing a drink of the Russian vodka. Roy had left shortly after the girls, finding that he just needed to be alone.

"So are you going to tell me why you broke out the vodka, or are we just gonna sit here in silence?" John asked and Oliver sighed before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box that John hadn't seen in a while and sitting it on the table between them. For a while he believed the man had finally stored the box away, but obviously he was wrong. "Oh." John sat his glass down. "So it's about that time huh?" Oliver's eyes looked at the box for a few moments before looking back to John with a look that seemed to worry the man. "Oliver?"

Sarah was totally and utterly confused the moment Felicity plucked her from the basement of the club and told her that she would be at some weird sleep over with her and Katie. She was going to question the matter more, but Felicity gave her a slight look that told her that there was more to it.

She soon realized that the moment the three women stopped at a drug story and plucked a few pregnancy tests from the shelf, before going to Felicity's apartment. Felicity and Sara both sat in the living room, waiting for Katie who had barricaded herself in the bathroom until she knew the results. They hadn't completely filled Sara in, but at the moment she'd figured out what was going on.

"I'm so nervous." Felicity said suddenly breaking the silence Sara was comfortable with keeping. "I mean, I know I'm not the one having to pee on a stick, but this is so—" the woman squealed slightly. "Can you imagine a little baby Twiver?" Sara simply shook her head with a annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"You're so blonde sometimes Felicity." Sara said and Felicity frowned in offense at the insult, sitting up straight and folding her arms over her chest. "This could be the worse thing that could happen to them right now."

"And why is that?"

"There is a mad man intent on ruining Oliver's life, tell me what do you think he'll do if he finds out about the little bundle of Twiver on the way?" Sara asked standing to her feet and walking over to look out the window.

"You're so cynical sometimes." Felicity said standing to her feet, but Sara didn't turn to her. "I get you've spent a big part of your life in a very fucked up situation, giving you a dark outlook on life, but this could be a baby. A life. Something innocent that they created." Sara glanced over to the woman with a bored expression. "And you can say I'm being blonde, or dumb, but to me there is nothing wrong with something being created from love." Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened and both women turned to Katie with expectant eyes. "So..."

Katie opened her mouth to speak, when there is a sudden knock at the door. They all stood a bit straighter, and both Katie and Sara headed for the door, before Sara stopped in front of Katie.

"Let me." the woman said, and Katie sighed before giving her a nod. Sara simply nodded before turning, only for Katie to drop to the floor and swing a foot underneath the woman's legs, knocking the woman off her feet, right on her butt. Katie then stepped over the woman to open the door, slightly surprised at the faces that she saw. "You're a little—" Sara appeared behind Katie, her eyes going to the man and woman standing in front of them. "Who are you?"

"Lois Lane, and this is my partner Clark Kent." the woman said before turning to Katie. "We need to talk."

"How did you find her?" Felicity asked appearing beside Sara as she looked out to the reporters. Oliver had long had her investigate the two, but nothing popped out, but even she had to admit that this was a little weird.

"We're investigative reporters." Lois replied cryptically, still looking to Katie. "We need to talk to you."

"That's not happening." Sara said reaching for the door to close it.

"It's about your father!" Lois called and Katie quickly stopped Sara from closing the door. "Please, just five minutes." Katie looked between the man and woman for a few moments before giving her a nod.

"Are you joking, you're not—"

"Give me a minute." Katie said before reaching forward and closing the door and turning to Sara.

"I thought we all agreed that for your own safety—"

"Sara, you're here because for some reason Oliver believes your abilities would somehow outmatch Slade if he suddenly appeared and maybe you would, but what I do know is that if I can get the drop on you, then you will not be my watch dog." she glanced over to Felicity who stood silently. "I will be out in the hall." and with that Katie walked out the door, letting it close behind her.

"She's such a brat." Sara muttered walking over to the door to look out the peep hole.

"She kind of has a point." Felicity replied and Sara looked over her shoulder sending a dark glare.

"She also maybe carrying a little Twiver which makes her a little bit more vulnerable." Sara replied and Felicity eyes widened at the sudden realization before she went over to the door and pressed her ear against it.

The moment Katie stepped out in the hallway, Lois seemed to hit her with a question she really didn't expect.

"You have, haven't you?" Lois asked and Katie turned back to her. "ARGUS, you know of them? Did you know of your father's connection to them?" there was absolutely no possible way that some reporter from Metropolis could have found out this information. "I can't believe this. What else are you hiding?" Katie glanced from the woman to the man who remained silent at her side, who didn't look as upset as his partner. "ARGUS is a myth, and yet my contacts tell me that your father could be apart of them." Katie turned back to the woman, still not saying anything. "And you don't think this could be apart of his disappearance?" Lois stared waiting for something, but Katie continued her silence. "I will—" Lois' phone suddenly rang and she pulled it from her pocket and looked down to the ID before rolling her eyes and walking off. "Perry, now is not a good time." Katie's eyes followed the woman down the all before turning back to Clark.

"You should get your partner out of here because she's poking a beehive and if she's not careful she will get stung." Katie whispered and Clark quirked a brow. Katie turned back to go into the apartment before stopping and turning back to the man and looking at him for a few moments She pointed to his glasses and shook her head. "Terrible disguise by the way." his eyes widen slightly, glancing down to Lois who was still busy with her call before turning to Katie.

"How—"

"I can recognize masks and yours is really bad." she replied with a shake of her head. "Look, I don't care, just take her and get her out of Starling before she gets herself into something she can't get out of." Katie turned back to go into Felicity's apartment.

"Martin Ellis." Clark whispered and Katie froze, before slowly turning back to the man. "You know the name?" Katie nodded.

"Do you know where he is?" Katie asked and Clark shook his head, before pulling his phone from his pocket and pulling up a picture before turning it to Katie. "What the hell?" it was a newspaper article about the deaths of three men in a car accident. The names of the men were unknown, but Katie recognized their faces. It was the mercenaries from the island who tried to kill her. She lifted her eyes back to Clark.

"Superman may have asked a couple of people in their circle if they knew anything and the name Martin Ellis came up a couple of times." Clark said and Katie's jaw clenched with a shake of her head. "Lois doesn't know about this, because I believe you're right. This is big and I don't want her anywhere near this." Katie turned back to the man. "But she's not letting this go, and the only way I know she's safe is solving this before her, and that means I'm going to need your help." Katie just nodded.

"I will contact you." she said glancing down to Lois before turning and going back into the apartment, practically running into Sara and Felicity who were trying to eavesdrop at the door. "Thanks for the privacy."

"Well what did they want?" Sara asked and Felicity took a step forward, waving off the question.

"So not important." the woman said looking to Katie. "What did the test say?" Katie turned back to Felicity and let out a deep sigh.

"They were inconclusive." Katie said with a shake of her head, walking over and plopping down on the couch. "I think we bought a bad batch or something." Felicity and Sara walked over and sat as well on either side of her. "I'm not going to freak out."

"You should talk to Oliver."

"She should not tell Oliver anything until she knows something definite." Sara added ignoring the dirty look from Felicity. "He needs to stay focused on Slade and he definitely won't do that if he's having a meltdown about some possible Twiver baby." Katie looked over to Sara with a quirked brow. "I know, it's annoying, but for some reason I like saying it too."

"So what are you going to do?" Felicity asked.

"I texted Chris, and he says he can see me tomorrow before Moira's debate."

"That's right, that is tomorrow." Felicity muttered with a shake of her head. "Well how do you plan on evading your overprotective boyfriend until then."

"I don't know." Katie muttered closing her eyes and letting her head drop back on the couch. She felt Felicity drop her head on her shoulder, which she didn't mind. She did however put her foot down when the blonde began rubbing her belly.

The next morning, Oliver was surprised that when he appeared outside of Felicity's apartment building, a familiar face was doing the same.

"You were nervous, huh?" John says walking over to the man before they began walking inside.

"Katie and Felicity are up to something, I just hope they didn't pull Sara in with them." Oliver said as they walked over to the elevator. John reached down to push the button for the elevator. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking in to make sure they didn't try to take over the world or something. With those two, I wouldn't put it past them." John said, just as the elevator opened, and there standing was someone neither man expected to see.

"Dr. James?" Oliver said the man turned to him with a smile.

"Mr. Queen, good to see you again." Christian said, holding out a hand to which Oliver shook. "If you'd excuse me—" the doctor made to pull back his hand, only for Oliver to tighten his grasp.

"What are you doing here doc?" Oliver asked and the man looked slightly nervous glancing from John back to Oliver.

"I have a friend who lives in the building." the man replied jerking his hand back.

"Really, which apartment?" Oliver questioned and Christian's brow furrowed with a shake of his head.

"That's none of your business, now if you would—" the doctor tried to step from the elevator only for John to step in his way. "Are you serious right now?"

"You can go, when you stop lying doc." John said. "It's your choice."

Felicity stepped from her room, fully dressed and ready for her day as she put her final ear ring in her ear. She walked out to see Sara in the same spot she'd been standing when she went to get ready.

"You know my neighbors probably think you're a peeping tom." Felicity said walking around into her kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"Did she say anything to you since he left?" Sara asked walking over to Felicity who simply shook her head.

"No, he drew some blood and she hasn't spoken a peep." Felicity sighed. "She's really nervous about this."

"Well she should since her boyfriend is here." Sara said and Felicity looked over to her in confusion. "Him and John pulled up a few moments ago."

"What if they bumped into Dr. James." Felicity asked, when there was a sudden banging on her door. Both women turned. "Shit." Sara took a deep breath before walking over and looking through the peep hole to see who she expected. The moment she pulled open the door, Oliver walked in without an invitation.

"Oh, please come in." Sara muttered as John walked in as well. Oliver let his eyes scan over the place.

"Hi, why are you here, I thought we were meeting you back at the club." Felicity said walking around to the man who she could tell was not happy at all.

"We just ran into Dr. James." Oliver said.

"Wow, isn't that a coincidence." Felicity said, failing at playing it cool. "He must know someone in the building."

"That's what he said at first." Oliver said when the door to Felicity bedroom opened and out walked Katie who was now freshly showered and changed. Her eyes widened in confusion the moment she saw Oliver whose eyes seem to drift to her arm that held a very visible bandage that wasn’t there the day before.

"What are you doing here?" Katie asked walking over to the man. Oliver grabbed her arm and held it up and Katie sighed.

"First there's this story about Felicity not wanting to be alone, and then when I show up, there's a doctor sneaking out of the building and you have a bandage on your arm." Oliver said before lifting his eyes to look to both Felicity and Sara. "Someone should start talking now." he looks back to Katie. "What's going on?" Sara and Felicity looked to each other, before turning back to Katie who silently stared at Oliver. After a moment, Katie opened her mouth only to be interrupted.

"He came here to see me." Felicity said suddenly and all eyes went to her. "I wasn't planning on this being this big thing where everyone knows, but I guess with everyone being so damn nosy, I guess I have no other choice." She turned to Katie who shook her head slightly. "I think I might be pregnant. Dr. James stopped by to draw some blood." she pointed to Katie's arm. "I don't really like needles, so she let him draw from her first so I could see how much of a wuss I was being." she looked over to Oliver who stared with slightly wide eyes. "So there it is. I won't know anything definite until he calls, so I would very much appreciate not talking about this after this moment."

"Have you talked to Bruce?" John said and Felicity seemed to bite the inside of her cheek before just shaking her head. "He should be here, he should—"

"He doesn't want to be here, and I don't want him to because he feels he has to." Felicity replied with a firm nod. "Look, I don't know if this is real or not and until I do, I just want nothing to change. I'm fine so lets just pretend like we're all the same people we were yesterday." Everyone silently nodded and Felicity did as well. "Alright, should we head to the club, I think you're supposed to be training with Roy."

"Right." Oliver said snapping from the mild shock of the new information. He turned back to Katie, taking her hand. "We will see you guys there." Oliver lead the woman out the door, but Katie couldn't help but glance back to Felicity one final time before they were gone.

Oliver glanced over to Katie as they drove to the foundry. He figured she was probably nervous about Felicity.

"I can't imagine what Felicity's is going through right now." Oliver said breaking the silence and Katie glanced over to him. "Bruce really should be here."

"It's her choice, if she's not ready to tell him, then she doesn't have to." Katie replied turning back to look out the window. "She's probably just freaking out, afraid of his reaction. I mean if this was us, what would you do?" Oliver's answer wasn't quick and so Katie turned back to him to see him shrug.

"No idea. I would be there, you know I would be there, even if it was horrible timing." Oliver said with a slight shake of his head. "Slade would probably have a field day if he ever found out." the man's brow furrowed as he let himself really think about the possibility. "Actually that could be the worst thing that could happen to us right now." Katie looked at him with slightly wide eyes before turning back to look out the window. She had no idea what she was going to do if that test came back positive.

When they arrived at the foundry, Roy was already there warming up. Katie immediately excused herself to the bathroom.

It didn't take long for the others to arrive, and the moment Felicity walked in and didn't see Katie she immediately was worried.

"Where's Twinkie?" Felicity asked looking over to Oliver and Roy who were setting up targets for Roy's archery lesson. Oliver stopped with a furrowed, just now realizing how long the woman had been in the bathroom.

"Bathroom." Oliver said looking over to the door. "I should—"

"I'll go!" Felicity suggested before hurrying over to the door. "C'mon Sara." Sara simply rolled her eyes before following behind the woman. Felicity knocked lightly on the door and whispered something before the door opened and both women slipped inside.

"Is that normal?" Roy asked as the three men left, looked over to the bathroom door. John and Oliver shared a look before looking back to the door.

"I'm not sure." Oliver said before turning to the young. "Let's just get back to your lesson." Once everything was set up, Roy held the bow in his hand as he aimed, just as the door to the bathroom finally opened and all three women emerged. "Is everything alright?" Dark looks from the women caused him to take a slight step back, glancing over to John who simply shrugged. "Ok, never mind." he figured it was just some woman thing that he would never understand and so he just turned back to Roy. "Ready?"

"Well, I've been working with Sara, but I'm not exactly a natural." Roy said holding up the bow towards the target.

"Neither was I." Oliver said. He gave the man a nod, before Roy released the arrow, missing all the targets and hitting some electrical wires that were against the wall. "Ok. We have some work to do."

"Oliver!" Felicity called coming over to him holding a stack of pink slips.

"Try again, this time aim." Oliver told the man before going over to Felicity. "What are those?"

"About a month's worth of phone messages from Queen consolidated." Felicity replied and Oliver just shook his head as he looked over to see Katie walking over to stand beside Roy.

"Are you listening to me?" Felicity asked annoyed.

"Not really." the man replied honestly, getting him a punch to the shoulder. "Ow! Felicity, just toss them."

Katie saw the slight shake of Roy's hand as he held the bow and she thought about how such a reaction would fair with her old buddy Lian Yu.

"What?" he finally asked, noticing her staring.

"You're not going to hit the target, if you're not thinking about hitting the target." Katie said and he looked over to her with a quirked brow. "Focus is very important when it comes to being someone who fights the bad guys."

"Do you have any tips because all Oliver gave me was just to aim." Roy replied looking at the targets. Katie looked at the targets, going back to the time when she was a in a small room and forced to hit the target every time.

"I'm not sure if how I was taught will help you." she said turning back to Roy who looked slightly confusion. "I guess you can imagine that not hitting that target could be your death or the death of someone you love." she glanced back to the targets. "Your survival is solely based on whether you hit that target or not."

"You know I've been meaning to ask you—" Roy said as Katie turned back to him. "What the hell happened to you?" for some reason the question made her snort very unattractively.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't gotten that question in a while and to this day even I'm not completely sure." Katie replied pointing toward the targets. "Try again, this time focus."

"Hey." Oliver said coming over to her. "So I just remembered that QC has an annual meeting and I guess I have to be there."

"Being the CEO and all, makes sense." Katie joked with a nod. "So are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I just thought you could come with me, and then we could head over to the debate together." Oliver said and Katie simply nodded.

Oliver and Katie went to the house and changed into their appropriate business attire. Katie was dressed, but still stood in the mirror questioning her dress of choice. It was a dark red dress, that stopped about an inch above her knees. She ran her fingers through her curls that she chose to let fall over her shoulders before just shaking her head and grabbing her cell phone and dialing a familiar number only to get the voice mail.

"Hi, speedy it's me, I know I complained about you just popping over and making me your makeover project, but at the moment I could use your fashion wisdom." she let out a sigh before turning back to the mirror. "I mean I think I did alright, but you're better with all of this than me. Just call me back." Katie hung up the phone and once again slid her hands along the dress before grabbing her purse. She glanced back at the mirror on last time, this time stopping and turning to the side and imagining herself with a larger stomach. Her hand slid slowly along the non existent belly just as the door opened. Katie nearly jumped from her skin as she turned and began fiddling with her hair.

"Wow." Oliver said in a bit of awe as he walked over to stand behind the woman to look in the mirror himself. "Red is definitely your color." he dropped his lips to the crook of her neck causing a soft moan from her lips. "Red is also a dangerous color to wear around me."

"You're going to be even later to this meeting if you keep this up you horn dog." Katie replied turning to him and straightening his tie. It was something she now did, whether it was crooked or not and Oliver did not seem to mind at all.

"I love you." Oliver said out of the blue and Katie lifted her eyes to his and smiled.

"I love you too." she glanced over to the wall clock. "We should go before your devil woman tries to hunt you down." she turned to head for the door, when Oliver suddenly caught her hand. She turned back to him, confused. "What's going on Liver?" he stared at her silently for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Nothing, let's just go." Katie just reluctantly nodded before the pair finally departed to QC.

Katie spent the duration of the meeting in Oliver's office, sitting behind his desk, mindlessly spinning in his chair from side to side. Her eyes were locked on the picture that sat on his desk that was of him and her taken a while back at some function they were attending. They stood, their arms around each other smiling, very honest smiles. The smiles weren't because of the function, it was because only moments prior to taking the picture, they had emerged from a very intense make out session in a janitor's closet. Katie chuckled to herself at the memory with a shake of her head before standing to her feet and walking over to the window.

"Can I get you anything?" came a familiar voice, and Katie sighed turning to see Felicity. "Club soda, or some crackers perhaps?"

"You know you didn't have to do what you did." Katie said glancing over to the boardroom where the meeting was still commencing. She walked over to Felicity. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, well sometimes I can play the hero too." Felicity replied with a shrug. "Plus it wasn't as big a deal as you may believe. No one has even mentioned anything." Katie shook her head before glancing over the woman's shoulder with wide eyes. "What's—" Felicity followed her eyes and mirrored the woman's expression when she saw Bruce Wayne. He turned meeting her eyes before rushing into Oliver's office. "Uh, Bruce what are you doing here?"

"John called, said that you needed me and that I needed to get to Starling right away." Bruce said looking over the woman who looked seemingly fine. "What's wrong?" Felicity and Katie shared a look before the pair turned back to the man. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm just going to—" Felicity looked over to Katie, nudging her head toward the man. Katie simply nodded before watching the woman lead the man out of the office. She shook her head, now feeling even more guilty than before. Katie glanced down to her cell phone before once again dialing Thea's number. Moira had shown up earlier, asking if either of them had spoken to her. Oliver didn't seem to even want to have a conversation with the woman, but Katie was actually slightly worried.

"Look Thea, I get the need to want to disappear for a while, trust me. But you little brat have people who care about your well being, so please call or text or send a smoke signal, just something so I'm not worrying about you. Please." she ended the call, turning to see the board standing to their feet. It wasn't long before Oliver was stepping back into his office, and walking over to her. "Fun meeting?"

"Oh loads of fun." the man replied bringing his hands to the woman's waist. "Did you reach her?"

"Still just her voice mail."Katie said with a shake of her head. "Maybe she's taking this Roy thing harder than we thought."

"Yeah, but she knows to at least call." Oliver replied. "I'll give her some more time, before I start looking for her." There was a knock on Oliver's glass door, and they both turned as Isabel walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I thought it would be rude of me to not say hello to Dr. Robins." the woman said with a smile. "It's been a while since anyone has seen you since your company was taken." Katie found herself taking a step toward the woman, only for Oliver to hold her back.

"I am still a majority shareholder of that company. I still have input and decision power with that company, and my name is still on the side of that building and many more around the world. You haven't seen me Ms. Rochev because I don't like being in the same room as you."

"Maybe you should just leave." Oliver suggested to the woman, who simply nodded before turning and walking from the office.

"And that's why you should never bring your girlfriend to work." Katie said and Oliver just laughed. "You laugh now, but one day I'm going to punch that woman and like it."

"I wouldn't be surprised by that at all." Oliver replied, glancing back to Felicity's desk. "Where's Felicity?"

"John called Bruce." Katie said and Oliver turned to her. "And he showed up a few moments ago and now they're talking."

"Good." Oliver said and with a nod. "He should be here to take care of his responsibility."

Felicity sat in one of the empty boardrooms, watching Bruce stand in front of the grand window and look out at the city, waiting for him to say something.

"When will she know something for sure?" Bruce asked turning back to the woman who shrugged.

"Whenever Dr. James can get the results back to her, which he said he has no idea how long will take." Felicity replied. "Look I'm so sorry you were dragged into this. You can go home, I know this is the last place you want to be."

"Actually, getting out of Gotham didn't seem like a bad idea." Bruce sighed and Felicity nodded.

"Yeah, I heard about Batman, not being so much a hero anymore. Why did you take the wrap for something you didn't do?" Felicity asked and Bruce shook his head before turning back to the window. "I get it. Harvey was the hero the city needed and you'd sacrifice yourself to let them have him."

"There was no choice."

"Yeah there was, you just chose the stupid one." Felicity replied standing to her feet. Bruce turned to her with a furrowed brow. "A hero doesn't have to be inherently self sacrificing to make him a hero. That just makes him an idiot who likes self torture." she shook her head. "I should get back to work."

"Felicity—"

"No, you know what, you can't do this now." the woman said turning back to him. "You can't come back here and try to justify the decision you made based off of things you believed would happen. You wanted to hurt yourself, and then turn around and tell yourself that it was necessary to be the hero your city needed. That's fine, but you don't get to come here and keep trying to pull some kind of understanding from me because, Bruce you're not going to get it." Felicity took a deep breath, willing tears not to fall. "Just go home and be the man you think you're supposed to be." and with that, the woman turned and stalked from the room. Bruce let out a groan before following after her. He did catch up to her, but only because she'd stopped. It was the reason why she'd stopped that made him sigh.

"Oliver, Robins." The man greeted with a tired smile. "I've been meaning to call to thank you for you help back in Gotham. I just—"

"Shut everyone out, including the woman you claimed to love." Oliver said and Katie grabbed his arm.

"Oliver, don't." she said before looking to Felicity who kept her eyes to the floor. Oliver followed her eyes before turning back to Bruce.

"What did you do to her?" Oliver asked angrily.

"Oliver, it's nothing, just drop it. Bruce was just leaving, so how about we let him." Felicity said hoping to get as far away from this situation as possible. She really just wanted to cry, but refused to let him see her do it.

"Leave?" Oliver said glaring over to the man before taking a step forward. "You have a responsibility to be here, with her until she knows the truth."

"Oliver, this isn't your business, it's between Felicity and—"

"He's right." Bruce said taking a step forward to stand beside Felicity. Her and Katie turned to the man in confusion. "I'm supposed to be here, so this is where I will be until we find out something."

"Well, good." Oliver said, kind of disappointed at not being able to yell at the man. He turned back to Katie. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Katie said glancing back to Felicity who simply nodded, a signal that she was ok. When Oliver and Katie were gone, Felicity turned to Bruce.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Helping a friend, just like you." Bruce answered with a nod. "And if you're keeping up this story, then I have to go along with it."

"No you don't. You can leave and just be that asshole everyone thinks you are and not care because you don't care what people think of you." Felicity replied with a shake of her head before stalking down the hall toward her desk.

"That's not true!" Bruce snapped loudly, and everyone walking down that hall stopped and turned to him, including Felicity who turned with wide eyes. "I care what you think."

"Your actions say something totally different, because right now, this moment, you do not want to know my perception of you. Now leave." she turned and stalked her high heeled feet down the hall, not daring to look back to him. Bruce just stood there watching her walk away from him. He glanced at the eyes still on him before turning and walking over to the elevator.

That night, Katie stood gripping her cell phone in her hands, as she stood off to the side backstage at the debate. She'd expected Christian’s call hours ago and the fact that she hadn't heard from him only made her more nervous. She was about to just give in and call the man, when she looked up to see Oliver with his own phone pressed to his ear. The look on his face let her know that he was leaving yet another voice message on Thea's phone. Katie was about to walk over, when she glanced over to see someone she didn't expect to see. Katie narrowed her eyes before walking over.

"Laurel, I didn't expect to see you back here." Katie said noticing the glare on the woman's face. She followed the woman's eyes to where Oliver stood talking to Sebastian. "You know if it is any consolation at all, I think there's something off about him as well." Laurel turned to the woman with a quirked brow. "I'm not sure what, but when I look at him, I don't know, I see someone always wearing a mask. Like he’s hiding something." she shrugged turning back to the woman. "For some reason he's just really good at fooling a lot of people."

"Why are you talking to me?" Laurel finally asked. "I thought you hated me?" she turned to where Oliver seemed to notice the pair with a wary look.

"I think you're confusing me with you." Katie replied and the woman looked back to her with a quirked brow. "I never hated you. I nothing you. I know almost nothing about you, so my opinion of you is based on the way you seem to treat me. You don't trust me, which is fine, me and you have not been put into a situation where I would have to earn your trust." she glanced over to Oliver. "The only thing connecting us is that man who I've loved longer than I've known what love is." she smiled when she noticed him give Sebastian's hand a shake before he started toward them. "If you find anything else on Blood, let me know." she glanced back to the woman. "He's dirty and I don't like how he's worming his way in Oliver's life. I would like to help you take him down."

"There you are." Oliver greeted with a nervous smile as he looked between Katie and Laurel. "Laurel, hey, I didn't expect to see you here."

"I was just stopping by to give my support to your mother." Laurel replied with a slight smile, glancing over Oliver's shoulder where she spotted Moira. "And there she is. I should catch her before she goes on." She gave Oliver a nod before turning to Katie, with a nod as well, this one a silent agreement before she walks away toward Moira.

"What was that about?" Oliver asked once the woman was out of ear shot. "You two actually looked like you were getting along."

"You think you can handle your ex and current girlfriends being actual friends?" Katie asked noticing the momentary bewildered look on Oliver's face before he turned back to her and she couldn't help but laugh. "Any word from our dear Speedy?"

"No, after the debate I'm going to look for her." Oliver replied and Katie simply nodded before they noticed the stage being cleared. "I think it's about to start, we should go find our seats."

Despite Katie's current opinion of the woman, she had to admit that at the moment she really did admire Moira Queen. Moira stood on that stage in front of all those people and she stood her ground and argued her points with conviction and determination. Katie had gotten caught up in the back and forth, when Oliver's hand slid over into her lap to take her hand in his. She glanced over to him with a smile when she suddenly felt her phone vibrate from her purse. She quickly took it out to see Christian's number and her heart dropped in her chest.

"I have to take this." she whispered over to Oliver who looked to her with confusion. "I just need a minute." she stood to her feet not giving him a chance to question her more. Oliver stood about to follow her when a voice he most definitely did not expect to hear through the loud speaker suddenly surrounded him.

"Help!" that caught his attention instantly and both he and Katie turned to the screen to see the frightened face of Thea. "Please help me!" Katie quickly took a few steps forward not quite believing this was happening. "He—" suddenly a hand clamps over her mouth, and soon someone appears wearing what looks like an armored blue and gold mask. Words soon appear on the screen.

"HOW MUCH IS THEA QUEEN'S LIFE WORTH TO YOU?"

To everyone else, the message was directed to Moira, but Oliver and Katie knew who that message was for and who sent it.

They ended up at Queen Consolidated which at the moment seemed like a mad how with both the police and the QC workers all scrambling about. For some reason, Katie was unsure of her place in all the madness, and so she chose to stay out of the way. For the moment she stood in the corner of the room, ignoring the craziness around her with her eyes closed replaying the video in her head. Soon her thoughts drift to a memory that she couldn’t shake.

_"Did you hear what I said?" Katie stared at the man, waiting for him to say gotcha, because after the words your mother and magic are used in a sentence, that's how it's supposed to end. She silently walked around him, quickening her step to place as much distance between her and the man as possible. He quickly turned to catch up to her. "I know how this sounds—"_

_"If you knew how it sounded then you wouldn't have said it." she said glancing over her shoulder. "Look guy who's friends with my dead mother who believes in magic, how about you stop following me before I hurt you." she suddenly stopped and looked back to him. "Which I can. I can hurt you so much that you will wish that you were dead." the man turned his head slightly, once again as if listening to something. "What?"_

_"You hated saying that." he said. "Like it actually turned your stomach for those words to come out of your mouth." he takes a step toward, her but she takes a step back feeling the need for the distance between them. "You still have your soul."_

_"You can't honestly expect me to believe—"_

_"I don't, and if it were up to me, I would knock you out and drag your ass to this bus, but that's not how this is supposed to go."_

_"Supposed to go? What are you talking about?"_

_"This is a move, another step forward to get you home. I'm just playing my part. You've been paying attention, because that's what you do. You see the things people think they're concealing, you have a knack for it." Katie stared at the man with narrowed eyes of confusion. "Look whether you believe me or not or you think I'm a nutbag or not, I'm here getting you to that next step home. At this point do you really care how you get there."_

_The man had a point. Katie wanted nothing more than for this entire nightmare to just be over and she didn't care how that got done and so in that moment she would hold all questions until later. She'd found herself in a very confusing and unbelievable situation, and at the moment she would just ignore it all if it got her closer to home. She simply gave him a nod, before he began walking again, her falling in step beside him._

_"John." The man said after a few silent steps and Katie glanced over to him. "John Constantine." she furrowed her brow once again. "What?"_

_"Weird name for a weird guy." she muttered and the man couldn't help but chuckle._

_"Everyone's a critic."_

There was a hand on her shoulder and Katie's eyes snapped open to see Officer Lance staring at her with obvious concern.

"Her hair was wet, you should check areas near bodies of water." Katie said, but shook her head. "Which could be anywhere, so that doesn't help her." she glanced back to the man. "She only said help, which backwards or forwards isn't code for something. She should've said something more, something that could've given us some indication as to where she is or who—"

"Hey." Lance gives Katie a light squeeze of her shoulder. "We're going to find her."

"You're going to try to find her, but in reality there's no telling who has her or where she is." Katie replied unsure why so much emotion was bubbling out of her right now. "She could be anywhere, locked away in some cage—" and that's when it happened. When she realized how her fears for Thea were the fears she held for herself. She turned back to Lance and just shook her head. "Sorry, just do what you can." Katie walked away before he could say anything else. She went to Moira's side and the woman simply glanced over to her before turning away. "Mrs. Queen is there something I can get for you?"

"No, I just—" tears filled the woman's eyes at the many thoughts that were running through her head at the moment. "I just want my daughter back." Katie brought an arm around the woman who dropped her head on Katie's shoulder. Katie let her eyes scan for Oliver, who should be here consoling his mother. She spots him in the conference room with Isabel. He's writing something down, before handing it to her and walking back into his office. She gives him a questioning look, when the door to his office opens and in walks Felicity.

"Mr. Queen, I need to talk to you." Felicity said glancing in Katie's direction as well. "It's about Mr. Wilson." Oliver nods, before turning to his mother.

"Mom, we'll be back." Oliver says, but Moira barely even hears anything at this moment. Oliver sighs before taking Katie's hand and heading out of the office.

The moment that video broadcasted, Felicity had already went into deep research mode. They all went back to the lair, where the woman gave her findings.

"Since the last place Thea was seen was Verdant I used credit card receipts, compiled a list of customers last night, pinged all their cell phones and hacked into their photos." Felicity explained as she lead them to her computers. "The NSA is right; it's a lot easier when you don't need a warrant. I eyeballed every photo."

"That had to be a lot of photos Smoaks." Katie commented and the woman simply turned with a nod.

"It's Thea." Felicity replied before turning to her computer and pulling up an image of a car. " I found this. Partial plate three blocks from the club. Car's registered to a Slade Wilson, and it has GPS."

"Where is it now?" Oliver asked.

"Parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt." Felicity replied when Katie's phone suddenly vibrated in her hands. She glanced up to see that no one had even noticed, and so she took a step back and turned to glance down to once again see Christian's number on her screen.

"But you're going to give us another." she heard Oliver say and she turned to see his eyes on Roy.

"Are you sure you want me to go?" Roy asked unsure if he is even ready for this.

"Are you angry?" Oliver asks, to which Roy nods. "Well then use that rage."

"You always tell me to pull back." Roy stated.

"Not tonight." Oliver says before heading for the case that holds his suit. Katie stands there and watch as everyone prepares to go, and instinctively she drops her purse and phone on a nearby table and heads to the closet that get her suit. The moment her hand opens the door, it's being pushed closed and not by the person she expected.

"Smoaks, what do you think you're doing?"

"No, what do you think you're doing?" Felicity whispers. "Have you gotten the results yet?"

"No, but—"

"She get the test results yet?" Sara whispered appearing at Felicity's side.

"Nope." The blonde answered and both turned to Katie.

"Then you're not going." Sara said with unmoving certainty. "You stay with Felicity, and—"

"Is everything alright?" Oliver asked and all three women turned to him which was really starting to make him uneasy. He glanced between them, before turning to Katie who took a step forward.

"I think I'm going to stay behind on this one." Katie said. Oliver should've been pleased, but he was actually nervous. Katie had stayed behind the past couple of times, and he never really had any real concern until this moment. He figured if there was anyone to push her into action, it would be to save Thea. "It's just you have Sara and—" her eyes looked over to Roy and she let out a shaky breath. "You have Roy and I don't think I will be needed." she looked back to Oliver who still stared in confusion. She turned away to Sara. "C'mon you shouldn't waste any time." she looked back to Oliver who hadn't moved from his place where he stared at her. "Right now you need to bring back Thea." she knew he wanted to ask more questions, to grill her, but she knew getting his sister back to safety was more important and so the man turned grabbing his bow before he, Sara and Roy were gone.

Felicity returned to her place behind her computer, while Katie stood staring at the targets that were still standing against the wall.

"Is something going on that we should be worried about?" John asked appearing at Katie's side. She glanced over to them. "This is Thea, you should be the first one in line in this rescue mission, and yet here you are."

"John, just drop it please." Felicity commented from her spot. The man glanced over to her, before turning to Katie.

"Well Oliver isn't stupid, so at some point he's going to start asking these questions as well, and I doubt he will drop it." John replied before walking off. Katie let out a deep sigh, before looking back to the target.

"I'm going to go upstairs." she said turning and heading for the stairs. She placed a hand on Felicity shoulder to ensure the woman that she was alright.

When Katie arrived to the dark club, she dropped to one of the couches before dropping her face into her hands.

"I've been looking all over the place for you." a voice spoke and Katie quickly jumped to her feet. She calmed when she realized who it was.

"You couldn't just give a little warning before you pop in unannounced?" Katie asked dropping back into her seat as she looked up to the man in the red and blue spandex suit. "Why are you here super-guy?"

"We made plans."

"Right, but I thought you would be watching the news with everyone else." Katie replied. "My boyfriend's sister has been kidnapped. So finding her, making sure she is safe is priority."

"Which is why your boyfriend and his friends went to some warehouse tonight?" Superman asked and Katie lifted a brow to him. "I've known for quite some time that Oliver Queen is the Arrow. For the time being I have no issues with his mission, but I think he's going to be disappointed tonight when he realizes his sister isn't there."

"How do you know?"

"I followed them, scoped out the place and there is only one person in that building." Superman replied. "A Slade Wilson. The police were being called when I left. Looks like he's going to be taken in."

"Shit." Katie muttered standing to her feet. "There is nothing that ties him to Thea's disappearance. He's going to be taken in and then released."

"Oliver maybe too close to this." the man said and Katie glanced over to him.

"I know." she replied with a shake of her head. "ARGUS, you said you were aware of them?" the man nodded. "There is an Agent in Starling by the name of Lyla Michaels. Any new information on Martin, she will have it." Katie turned about to head back to the basement.

"At some point The Arrow will be aware of my presence in his city." Superman said and Katie rolled her eyes turning back to him. "I think it's best if he heard it from you. When the time comes it will be best if there isn't any friction."

"You're a man in very tight clothing who flies in the sky. There is absolutely nothing that can prevent the friction that is bound to ensue when you meet the Arrow. So let's hold that off for as long as possible. Find Martin, and just go home." she shook her head before turning and stalking back down the basement. The moment she did, she spotted both Felicity and John standing above the computers.

"They didn't find Thea." Felicity said glancing back to her. "But they have Slade, and he's being taken into police custody." John was heading over to grab his jacket.

"He's going to get off." Katie said glancing between Felicity and John. "If there is nothing linking him to Thea, he will get off."

"That's where plan B comes into action. He leaves and leads us right to Thea." John says grabbing his gun and putting it into his holster before heading for the door.

"Seriously?" Katie said and the man turned to her. "That's too easy. All of this, from the GPS signal, to him letting us capture him. He's playing us, at every point." she glanced over to Felicity with a shake of her head. "I can't be the only one whose seeing that this bastard is toying with us."

"Then what is your plan?" John asks. "How do you see us getting Thea back?" Katie didn't say anything, because in reality she had no idea what their next move. "Until you do, I guess this is what we're doing." and with that the man turned and left.

"It's easy." Katie said turning to Felicity. "I would love it if finding Thea, bringing her home safe was as easy as tailing a madman, but it won't be. He's smart."

"How do you know?" Felicity asked.

"Oliver told me about Slade on the island, the kind of person he is, the training he has had." Katie replied walking over to the woman. "This is one woman. Hiding her is not difficult, making sure she isn't found is not difficult. This, making us think we're getting close, is him toying with our emotions. Letting us think that we're in control when in reality he holds the pieces and Oliver would see this if he weren't—"

"Afraid of losing his sister?" Felicity asked and Katie sighed. She knew at the moment she probably sounding insensitive, but she was just giving the facts. Something she believed someone should be doing if they truly wanted to get Thea back. "I think John is right. If you don't have any better ideas, then we have to move on this one." Katie silently nodded before Felicity went back to her computer to sit.

Katie stood there for a few moments unsure what to do, when her phone vibrated in her hand. She quickly turned bringing the phone to her ear.

"Christian, hey, I'm sorry I haven't answered it's just—"

"_There is a madman who has Oliver Queen's sister." _came a familiar British voice on the other end of the line. It was Martin, or who she believed was Martin. "_We are very much aware Doctor."_

Katie didn't say anything right away, her eyes glancing over to Felicity who still stared intently at her computer. She took a couple of more steps away to distance herself from the woman.

"Do you know where she is?" Katie asked.

"_Unfortunately no, but I do have information you may be interested in. "_

"What do you want?"

"_Just to see your pretty face."_ the man replied. "_Come alone. I'll text you the location."_

And with that the line ended. Katie pulled the phone from her ear turning back to Felicity.

"He's being taken inside to be questioned." Felicity stated.

"I need some air." Katie replied and the woman turned to her. "I'll just be outside, come get me if they get anything." Felicity simply nodded before watching the woman grab her jacket and head out the back door. Katie stood in the alley for just a moment before her phone once again vibrated. She glanced down to see the location and without hesitation she was off.

This was the second time Katie ended up at the Starling Cemetery at night, only this time she didn't have Oliver's hand to grip when she felt nervous. Her eyes darted through the darkness as she walked. This was the location she was texted and so he was here somewhere. She was nearing a familiar place in the cemetery, and the moment she arrived she'd found who she was looking for.

"I knew you would find me sooner or later." came the man's british voice from behind the rabbit mask he wore. She glanced over to her father's grave that was still empty with caution tape surrounding it. "You were always so good—"

"Now that I really listen, that accent is really horrible." Katie says turning back to the man. "But then again I remember you loved your old Sherlock Holmes movies." the man didn't say anything before he dropped his head and in the next moment reached down to remove the mask. "Hello Martin."

"I knew the mask was pointless." he said, his accent now gone and the voice she remembers now present. Katie looks at his face that is completely different since she laid eyes on the man, but it's his eyes that are familiar. She figures it's why he wore the mask, because it was his eyes that would've gave him away. "This part of the story is a little premature, but it doesn't alter what happens now."

"The only thing that happens now is you tell me where you've taken my father's body."

"Or I could tell you why Mr. Wilson's kidnapping of the Thea Queen is just a game."

"I know it's a game. He's toying with us. Do you know where he's keeping her?"

"No, but I wouldn't worry so much about Ms. Queen and more about the true motives behind Mr. Wilson's actions."

"What do you mean motives? He wants to hurt Oliver, kidnapping his sister does that."

"Slade Wilson has more depth than some simple plot for revenge." Martin said with a slight shake of his head. "No he's planning something else. Something you must figure out."

"Me?"

"Oliver is blinded by his emotions for his sister to see any other course of action, other than finding her. You must be the one who ventures outside that box." Martin reaches inside of his jacket and pulls out a small USB drive before tossing it to her.

"What is this?" Katie asks catching the drive and looking down to it in her hands.

"Oliver told you his version of Slade Wilson." Martin states and Katie once again meets his eyes. "It's time you learned the other." Martin turned about to leave.

"You invite me to a cemetery, and meet me near my father's empty grave." Katie says and the man turns back to her. "And assume I'm just going to let you go."

"At some point I was hoping you would see that we are on the same side." Martin replies. "Everything, and I mean everything that has happened has been in an effort to ensure your survival."

"It also ensured my insanity." Katie replied glancing over to the empty grave before turning back to the man. "Where is my father's body you sick bastard?"

"You're worrying about the wrong thing." Martin sighed. "You're just as much a victim to your emotions as Oliver. The difference is you have been trained in fighting it. Focus on the threat, leave everything else for later." There was a sudden gust of wind from behind the man and he turned with wide eyes at the man he'd only saw in blurry newspaper photos.

"Anyone here who thinks they want to take on the man who flies, be my guest!" Katie called knowing the moment she stepped into this cemetery that they were being watched. There was no movement and Katie took that as a sign that they were all smart. "Good, tell your boss that he gets his lackey back when I get my father back." Katie's eyes went to Superman who stood with folded arms, glaring at the man standing in front of him. "I assume you have ways to get our friend here to open up a little more."

"I have a couple of ideas." Superman said before grabbing Martin with one hand and shooting into the air like a bat out of hell. Katie's eyes went to the night sky unable to see either of them before glancing back down to the flash.

When Katie arrived back to the club, Roy was bursting through the door, and from the looks of it he was not happy.

"Hey!" Katie said rushing over to stop him. "What's happening? What's wrong?"

"Oliver is what's wrong?!" Roy snapped. "Everything, Slade, Thea being kidnapped, and then Slade getting away, it's his fault!" the man shook his head before walking around her.

"You wanted a tip!" Katie called out to him and he stopped but didn't turn back to her. "How do you hit that target. The thing is Roy, that lesson you're finding really difficult to learn goes way beyond that arrow. It's about life, it's about the right now. You want a tip, then focus!" he looked back to her, his body still buzzing and his fist still clenched at his side in anger. "You're angry and you're sad and you're scared, and those emotions they do not get Thea back." Katie shook her head before walking over to stand in front of the man. "I know telling you to not feel anything is pointless, and impossible. What I will tell you is to admit that you're letting it drive you and finally get back in control." Katie let out a deep breath. "Go, breathe, let it out, but then come back here ready to fight." Roy didn't say anything, but he did give her a slight nod before turning and walking away. Katie watched him until he was gone before turning and walking inside of the club. She could only imagine the room he'd walked from and knew she was probably walking into a very hostile situation.

Katie's feet had just stepped down the stairs to the basement when she heard the raised voices.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Oliver asked looking between Felicity and Sara. Felicity opened her mouth, but Sara took a step forward to stand in front of her.

"I'm sure she's fine." Sara replied.

"You don't know that!" both Oliver and Felicity snapped. Felicity took a step forward, looking over to the woman.

"We had a deal, and she broke her end of it. He deserves to know—"

"And she deserves to take a walk without the world collapsing in on itself." Katie said finally making her presence known as she walked down the rest of the stairs. "I am fine. I needed air and time to think." Oliver walked over to stand in front of her and she could see how worn and tired the man was from his eyes alone.

"Slade was released, so he is still out there, which means you are still a possible target." Oliver said. "I can't worry about you when I don't know where the hell my sister is!" Katie took a slight step back, knowing that emotions were running high at the moment, and Oliver raising his voice to her was him letting out his frustrations. "Why is it so hard for you to understand that you're in danger and you going out there, alone, is just stupid!" Well, that hurt. Katie didn't answer his question because she had the feeling that he really didn't need an answer. So she took another step back, this one Oliver noticed and the moment he did, she could see the regret wash over his face.

"Slade." Katie says instead, turning away from Oliver's eyes. "Why did he let us take him? What was the point?"

"Twinkie—" she turned to Oliver and just held up a hand to stop whatever he was about to say, because she knew it had absolutely nothing to do with the matter at hand.

"It was a game. What was the point?" Katie asked hoping someone would have some sort of idea.

"Oh, my God." Felicity says and they all look to see her staring at something on her computer. "Oliver—" the woman turns with wide eyes and Oliver rushes over to see what she was looking at. The man's eyes darken to see that Isabel had used her temporary status as CEO to take full control. Oliver doesn't say a word before he storms out to confront the woman.

When Oliver leaves, no ones sure what to do. Katie finds solace in pacing back and forth trying to understand the mind of a mad man.

"Besides hurting Oliver, what else does Slade want?" Katie asked suddenly after a while and everyone stopped and looked at her. "This entire time we're assuming that Slade's sole purpose for being in Starling is to hurt Oliver."

"And kidnapping Thea proves that." John says matter of factly and Katie shakes her head before continuing her pace.

"No Thea is the big green head in front of the curtain." Katie mutters and the others look at her like she's lost her mind. The Wizard of Oz analogy going over all their heads. "What Slade wants us to look at, what he wants us to pay attention to." she looks over to see the eyes on her. "It makes sense. Everything has been too easy, too open. We think we have all the information when we have nothing at all. We know what he wants us to know, we go where he wants us to go."

"What aren't we looking at?" Sara asks looking to Katie. Katie simply shakes her head unable to answer that question just yet.

"There is so much for someone as crazy as Slade could get himself into." Katie says before turning to Felicity. "Could you do a search, I don't know weapon transfers, armored truck pick up, medicinal transports, everything moving in this city tonight that could turn bad if Slade got his hands on it." Felicity stood there for a moment, before turning and sitting behind her computer and typing away before Katie simply turned and began pacing again. Sara and John shared a look before simply looking at the woman.

When Oliver arrived, he didn't stop moving. He explained Isabel's association with Slade this entire time and that she revealed where he could find his sister. Oliver didn't hesitate to grabbing his hood and putting it on even after Isabel's instructions for him to come alone.

"Ollie, this is another one of Slade's games, and unless—"

"No, what I can't do, Sara, is nothing!" Oliver shouted. "What would you do if it were Laurel, or your father, or your mother? I will not get dragged into the same debate over and over again!"

"Oliver, go." Katie said finally. They all looked at her in surprise, figuring she'd be the number one person trying to convince Oliver that this was a trap. "Find Thea, stop Slade, if you can, put an end to all of this." Oliver looked over to her before giving her a nod before turning and walking out of there.

"How could you—"

"It was going to take the jaws of life to stop Oliver from walking out of that door to get his sister." Katie says walking over to Felicity who’s processing the search. Her eyes look at the results that have already posted. "There is an armored car transport tonight, a prison bus transfer and a Medicine delivery to Starling General." she turned back to the others. "At the moment those are the biggest points of action for Slade. She looked over to John. "You get the medical transport." she turned to Sara. "You get the Armored car and I will get the prison transport." Felicity opened her mouth, and Katie simply held up her phone so the woman could read the text that she'd received moments earlier from Christian and the woman just closed her mouth. She turned back to John and Sara. "You asked me if I had a plan, this is it, are you in?" both nodded before they all pushed into action.

Katie knew she was cutting it close as he tried following the buses route. She'd sped down the dark road on one of Oliver's bikes, keeping her eyes open. Her eyes happened upon what looked like bodies up ahead. She quickly stopped the bike and ran the rest of the way, looking down to see the guards lying motionless on the ground. Katie heard the call come through on her com link and Katie answered as she bent down in search of a pulse on the first guard.

"Felicity—"

"He did it. Thea just walked into the precinct." Felicity said. "John and Sara didn't find anything with either of the transports."

"Yeah, but I did." Katie replied lifting her eyes and searching for any sign of where Slade and the prisoners could've gone. "Call the police, get them to my location now."

"Katie?"

"Do it now Felicity." Katie ordered before she ended the link. Katie glanced over to one of the guards who lay on the ground with a sword in his chest and the image was so familiar it just made her stomach turn. Katie disappeared the moment she heard the sirens nearing. She quickly returned to the foundry to change before heading down to the police station. When she arrived, the press was all over the place. She kept her head down as she pushed her way inside. Once inside, the place seemed to be buzzing, but she caught a glimpse of Thea rushing toward the bathroom and she quickly followed behind her.

"Speedy." the young woman groaned before turning to Katie with puffy eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Tell me you didn't know." Thea said and Katie looked at her in confusion. "Tell me you didn't know that Malcolm is my father." Katie sighed turning away. "I can't believe you would—" she shook her head. "Actually I can. God forbid you move without Oliver's approval." Katie turned to the girl with a offended look. "You're supposed to be my friend, you're supposed to—"

"Are you hurt?" Katie interrupted the girl and Thea looked in confusion.

"what, I'm—"

"You're angry that your mother and brother decided not to ruin your life by telling you that your real father is a murderer. You're angry that you've been kept against your will for the past twenty four hours. I completely understand, but right now I need you to tell me if you're hurt, do you feel disoriented, did he give you something, were there moments where you were unconscious." Katie took a step forward. "You see Thea, you were nowhere to be found, and all these people you are angry with were scared to death that they would never see you again." Thea dried her eyes with her sleeve, but shook her head to answer. "Thea, I wanted to tell you the truth, but there was always one thing stopping me."

"And what was that?" Thea asked. "My brother?"

"No, it was that Summer, you know the one where Oliver broke his leg and I would come by to visit him. Everyday I was there, I would see you delivering those drawings to your dad, and every time he would pick you up and spin you around and you would laugh." Katie reached a hand out to Thea, only for her to back away. "You loved no one the way you loved Robert and I was no one to take that away. The truth, as you're witnessing now only brings pain and I didn't want to be the reason that happened to you and I'm sure neither did your mother and brother."

"I want to be left alone." Thea said and Katie simply nodded before turning and leaving the bathroom. When she walked out, she spotted Oliver who quickly went over to her.

"She's fine, it doesn't seem like he hurt her physically." Katie said, glancing over to Moira. "Make sure your mother knows that." she turned back to Oliver who held so much hurt behind his eyes in this moment. She placed a hand on his cheek and his eyes met hers and she felt him release a shaky breath. "Take your family home and I'll ride with John." Oliver didn't say anything, but nodded before going over to his mother.

When John and Katie arrived back to the lair, they went to Felicity to see if there was any luck in locating the prisoners. They knew it was a long shot, but had hope that Slade had left something behind.

"Of course there's nothing." Katie sighed hearing Felicity's findings. Katie dropped into one of the chairs and rubbed her tired eyes. "Slade now has an army, and a billion dollar company behind him and we were always one step behind him."

"Yeah, but we could've been more steps behind him." John says and Katie looks up to him. "We were right on his heels because you were asking the questions none us were asking."

"We still ended up with nothing." Katie sighed standing to her feet and walked over to the table that sat the bloodied sword she'd pulled from the guard.

"Depends on how you look at it." Felicity said and Katie looked over to her. "This whole time, Slade had been toying with us, getting inside of Oliver's head and for the first time we got into his and that's because of you."

"She's right." a new voice spoke and they all turned to see Oliver coming down the stairs of the club. He looked over to Katie. "Roy was right. At every turn, I had made the wrong decision. With him, with the company, and with Thea. I was so focused on what Slade might do to me, that it never even occurred to me what I could do to myself. I am my own worst enemy."

"You mean the great and wise Oliver Queen is human?" Katie asked and the man sighed dropping his head. "Oliver no one is here because we think you're all knowing. We're here because we trust this mission you've brought us on."

"I can't stop him." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "I can't stop him from doing anything."

"Yes you can Liver." Katie replied now standing in front of the man. He looked up to see the certainty in her eyes.

"And how can you be so sure?"

"Because this isn't just your fight anymore." Katie replied looking over her shoulder to both Felicity and John.

"You're not alone man." John adds. Katie looks back to Oliver with a tilted head.

"Plus I'm your Guardian." Katie says and Oliver looks at her with a small smile. "So Liver, what is the next move?" Oliver dropped his head, as he considered the question and only one answer came to mind. He looked back up to his friends.

"We fight back." he stated. Katie nodded when the sound of her phone vibrating from across the room caught everyone's attention. She quickly went over to see who it was, before answering.

"Hey, no yeah, I'm sorry, but today has been very crazy as you could imagine." she sighed glancing over to the eyes on her. "Now's not really a good time, could I call you back, I—" she was interrupted. "I'm fine, I told you it's good news. Look, I'll talk to you later." she quickly ended the call. Katie looked back to see eyes still on her.

"I could use a drink." Felicity said suddenly before nudging John's arm. "Want to join me?" John looked slightly confused but nodded before following the woman upstairs to the club. Once they were gone, Oliver walked over to Katie.

"I was an ass—"

"If you're about to apologize, stop. You were upset about your sister, so you get a pass." Katie replies. "I'm not upset over it."

"Yeah, but I am. I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you and for that I'm sorry." Oliver says taking another step forward, glad she didn't back away. "And thank you, for stepping up and taking the reigns when I couldn't."

"We're a team Liver, I always have your back." Katie replied with a smile before turning to put her phone back into her purse.

"I've been meaning to ask you something." Oliver said and Katie turned back to him. "Something I've been holding off since we've had more pressing matters to focus on, but I think now is the perfect time." Katie quirked a brow waiting for him to continue. "You've been hiding something from me for the past couple of days, something that has to do with these secret calls, something I think Sara and Felicity know, but won't say anything." Oliver dropped his head and let out a deep breath before looking back to Katie. "Christian came to Felicity's apartment to see you, right?" Katie turned away for a moment before turning back to him.

"Yes."

"Felicity's story about thinking she's pregnant—"

"Felicity's not pregnant." Katie says and Oliver's eyes go wide.

"Wait, are you—"

"I'm not pregnant either." Katie said instantly knowing where he was going. "I was late and I thought there was a chance that I could be, so I called Christian to do the test. Then you showed up and Felicity decided to take the fall for me and I didn't say anything because—"

"Because what?"

"Because a baby Oliver—" she shook her head at the thought of the entire situation going the other way around. "A baby would be the worse thing that could ever happen to us right now like you said." Oliver sighed suddenly regretting those words that came out of his mouth. "There is Slade and Ra's and the fact that I still hallucinate and have nightmares about things that will always haunt me." she once again met his eyes hating the look in his eyes as he looked at her and so she turned her back to him.

"You still won't let me help you." Oliver said suddenly and Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head. "This—this was big. A baby? Whether possible or not, I should've known." Katie turned back to him. "We promised to try to be honest with each other, but for some reason—" Katie reached into her pocket and pulled out the USB drive and sat it on the table beside them. Oliver looked down to it in confusion.

"I'm damaged." Katie said with a dry chuckle and a shake of her head. "I try to pretend that I'm not, I try to pretend that I'm fine, but then something happens." she shakes her head and walks over to look over to the targets that still line the wall. "I want to be here, to be Katherine Robins, girlfriend of Oliver Queen, and then I find out something or I stumble upon something and I have to make a decision." She turns back to look at Oliver. "I can keep it to myself, make sure it's true, or I can tell you. Take you through the ringer with the chance that everything I told you was a lie and risk you hating me because of it."

"Katie—"

"It's an excuse. A terrible excuse that I use to justify my actions, but it's not fair to you." She sighs and turns her back to him once again. "Martin Ellis is alive. He's our rabbit masked man. Earlier tonight when I said I went for a walk, I was really meeting with him." she turned back to Oliver who stared at her in a silent shock. "He gave me the USB, said I would find more information about Slade, it may help us take him down, it may not." Katie let out a shaky breath before looking to Oliver waiting for him to respond.

"Can I talk now?" he asked and Katie silently nodded. Oliver looked over to the flash before picking it up and sliding it into his pocket. "I will have Felicity look this over." he looked back over to Katie trying to find a way to verbalize the array of emotions spinning around him at the moment. "I let Slade get the best of me, because for so long I've always believed he was better. Faster, smarter." Oliver shook his head and sighed. "For a while, I was the Oliver Queen from five years ago." He dropped his head. "I think we try to move forward, but there are pieces of our past that just won't let us go." he met her eyes once again. "At some point we have to realize that it isn't the past that won't let us go, it's us not letting ourselves let go of the past." Oliver walks over to stand in front of Katie and just looks at her for a few moments. "I'm afraid that all of you are following me, when I'm not even sure where I'm going half the time." he nudges his head to her.

"I'm afraid one day everyone will see what I was made into." Katie says dropping her eyes, surprised at her own admission. "I'm afraid that if I let out everything inside of me, it will be too much—" she looked back to Oliver. "Trust is really hard for me. Harder than even I may realize, and I'm afraid if I reveal too much that one day everyone will realize I'm more trouble than I'm worth and just—" her words were cut off by Oliver's lips slamming into hers, in a kiss that it would seem both seem to need. The craziness, and nervousness of the day seemed to roll right off of them in this moment. Once they pulled apart, Oliver cupped her face inches away from his.

"I'm sorry." Katie whispered.

"You were upset about your father, you get a pass." Oliver whispered back and Katie smiles. She knew absolutely nothing about what she had done to deserve this kind of reaction and yet here he was not arguing and not questioning her. "I've had a really bad day and right now I would very much like to save everything else for tomorrow and just take you home." Oliver leaned in to kiss her once more, but she pulled back and he looked down to her in confusion. "What?"

"There's one more thing." Katie said and Oliver looked to her with a quirked brow.

It was extremely later or maybe insanely early neither Katie and Oliver knew at the moment as they stood on the back yard porch of Katie's house. They stood there for a few moments before Oliver turned to Katie.

"Are you even sure it's—"

Oliver's question was answered in the form of a man landing in front of them, his cape blowing in the wind. The momentary shock on Oliver's face seemed to fall the moment the man spoke.

"Mr. Queen." Superman said with a nod. Oliver silently looked at the man before stepping down the stairs to stand in front of him. Like many others, Oliver's only sighting came from a blurry photo in a newspaper, or some grainy video someone took with their phone. A part of him always had doubt of the man's existence, up until this point obviously. "I'm glad for your sister's safe return. "Oliver still didn't say anything, and both Superman and Katie assumed he was still coming to grips with the flying man standing in front of him. "Don't worry the initial shock usually passes after a couple of moments."

"I'm not in shock." Oliver replied. "I'm thinking."

"About what?" Katie asked and Oliver looked over his shoulder to her.

"The fact that Slade probably hasn't planned for the guy in spandex."

"Says the man who wears leather." Superman replies and Oliver turns with a glare.

"Boys, boys, both your suits are tight." Katie replies walking down to stand between them. "I think we're stumbling upon an alliance, so please grow up."


	21. UNEXPECTED GUESTS

**Chapter 21**

**UNEXPECTED GUESTS  
**

_"Life just doesn't care about our aspirations, or sadness. It's often random, _

_and it's often stupid and it's often completely unexpected, and the closures _

_and the epiphanies and revelations we end up receiving from life, _

_begrudgingly, rarely turn out to be the ones we thought."_

-Khaled Hosseini

* * *

There is nothing more annoying than the ticking of a wall clock. Katie's eyes were locked on that wall clock that was telling her that with every passing second, was another second lost to help her friends.

"I'm sorry Ms. Robins, am I boring you?" Katie suddenly sat up in her seat and turned to the gray haired man who sat behind the desk in front of her.

"Not at all Mr. Fox." Katie replied with a smile and a nod.

"Well you're boring me Lucius." Came the reply from Bruce who was seated beside Katie. Both her and Lucius rolled their eyes at the man. "And you've gone over every detail imaginable, is there really anything else you need?" The man chose to ignore Bruce before turning to Katie.

"In light of the Queen Consolidated take over, a lot of the board members are just a bit worried that RI is next in sight."

"Weren't they here for when this guy stabbed me in the back and took my company?" Katie asked pointing a thumb over to Bruce. "I doubt I have the ability to sign over anything right now." Lucius glanced over to Bruce who simply turned away from the man's gaze. "What?"

"Well I made the mistake of believing Mr. Wayne when he said that he'd had someone explain the scope of your position here." Fox replied sitting up from his seat. "Ms. Robins you are still the CEO of this company. Your father implemented a safeguard in that contract, for there to be certain restrictions placed on the CEO if someone on the board felt said CEO wasn't making the best decisions for the company." Katie turned a furrowed brow to Bruce. "In essence Ms. Robins, you are still in control, you just have a few more hoops to jump through to get things done."

"Let me guess, this bastard is the biggest hoop."

"Yes, Wayne Enterprises must sign off on all decisions made, but—"

"Lucius—"

"I'm sorry Mr. Wayne, but we had a deal and you broke that deal. You were supposed to be honest with her, but you seemed to have glossed over a couple of details." Lucius said turning back to Katie. "I'm not sure what pushed Mr. Wayne to make the decision to add these restrictions, but Jacob Robins named you the CEO of this company and I have to believe that was for a reason. And so I will stand behind any decision you make when it comes to this company." Katie turned back to Lucius before standing to her feet and reaching out a hand, to which he shook.

"Thanks for your honesty Mr. Fox and if you would pretend that you do not see me hit Mr. Wayne." Katie said with a smile.

"I see nothing." Lucius said swiveling his chair around. The moment he did, Katie turned and punched Bruce hard in the arm.

"Son of a—" Bruce jumped to his feet and took a few steps back in case more blows came his way. Katie simply rolled her eyes before turning back to Lucius.

"It was nice seeing you again Mr. Fox." Katie said and the man turned and stood to his feet. "I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting."

"And I you." Lucius said showing the woman out of the office. He turned and looked to Bruce who sent a glare his way.

"Honesty in business is not always a good thing Lucius." Bruce states rubbing his shoulder.

"Maybe not, but I have a feeling it's the reason I'm here." the man replied with a wink before going back to his desk.

"Yeah, yeah." Bruce muttered finally leaving, the office. He spotted Katie waiting for the elevator and walked over to see her with her cell phone to her ear.

"How did it go?" she asked once again stepping forward to press the button for the elevator. She glanced over to him, but simply rolled her eyes. "Good, hopefully it gets to him." the doors finally opened and both she and Bruce stepped on. "I'm just getting out of my meeting, I can grab a cab and—oh, of course. When did he leave?" Katie chuckled. "I guess I will see you soon Smoaks, alright, bye." she hung up her phone before sliding it back into her purse.

"So how are things on the Slade Wilson front?" Bruce asked and Katie glanced over to him, but simply turned away. "Am I no longer allowed to help?"

"With this, no." Katie replied. "You broke my friend's heart, so no you can't assist on this one. I don't even know why you're still here." The elevator doors opened and Katie took a step, but Bruce moved to stand in front of her allowing the doors to close once again.

"I almost did it." Bruce said and Katie looked at him in confusion. "In the penthouse, when the Joker had that gun to her head and he said he'd let her go if I took my mask off, I almost did it." Bruce shook his head, haunted by that memory. "I can't get that close again."

"So the logical thing to do was to break up with the woman that you love, of course." Bruce shot the woman a look.

"You don't get it. That mask is all that is standing between my city and ruin and letting that slip away, do you understand what that could mean?" Bruce asked and Katie looked at the man for a few moments before shaking her head.

"Who do you think you are?" Katie asked. "No seriously, who do you really think you are? Bruce I commend you for what you're doing, and I truly do think you are making a difference, but you're not the messiah. You're a man. A man who fell in love and couldn't hack it. You couldn't handle the pressure to be Bruce Wayne. It's easy to put on that mask and fight when no one knows who you are, but inviting someone into your life and letting them see just you." she shook her head and walked around to open the doors. "You got scared Bruce, and you let that fear take away the woman you loved." she glanced over her shoulder to the man. The doors to the elevators opened and Katie spotted Oliver across the lobby, entering through the doors. She stepped off and Bruce was right there beside her.

"You're right, it is easier to be the man behind the mask and I figure it's not just a problem I'm having." Bruce whispered over to her, just as Oliver walked over.

"Hey." Oliver greeted, placing a kiss to Katie's cheek before turning an annoyed glare to Bruce. "You're still here?"

"Yep, I'm still here." Bruce replied with a shrug, before turning to Katie with a nod. "I'll see you around Robins." and with that the man turned and walked away.

"What is he still doing here?" Oliver asked turning back to Katie.

"No idea. He was at the meeting between Lucius and I, and he's been around every time I look over my shoulder." Katie replied with a shrug. "Maybe he just needed to get out of Gotham."

"Yeah, maybe." Oliver replied taking her hand and heading outside to his bike. They walked over and Oliver climbed on, before handing Katie the helmet, but she didn't take it. "What?" Katie stared at the man for a moment.

"Look at me Oliver." Katie stated simply and the man looked her over, now realizing that her current ensemble of a white blouse and blue pencil skirt probably wouldn't go well on the motorcycle.

"I guess I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to make sure I got here before the meeting was over." Oliver said climbing off the bike.

"It's fine, I'll just take a cab and meet you at the club." Katie says glancing up to the street for a cab. She shot up a hand, only for Oliver to reach up and take it in his. "What are you doing?"

"I will have someone pick up my bike." Oliver replied, before holding out his elbow to her. Katie simply looped her arm around his as they began walking down the street.

"I hate that I missed operation blow shit up." Katie whined dropping her head to Oliver's shoulder. "I would've been so good, in the black and the ski mask and the whole cat burglar vibe."

"Yeah, well operation blow shit up just put his plans on pause for a while." Oliver said with a shake of his head. "We have to figure out his next move."

"Well we know he's going to be looking for an industrial sized centrifuge to make his serum." Katie replied. "That's what was destroyed in the explosion. He's going to need a plan B to spreading the Mirakuru."

"Yeah, but what is plan B?" Oliver asked and Katie sighed unable to answer that question. They continued their stroll in silence for a few moments.

"So you meet with your lawyers tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Oliver sighed still beating himself up for getting himself pulled in by Isabel. "You know what I don't want to talk about Slade, or Isabel, or any of the other massive fuck ups that surround our lives right now."

"Neither do I, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about them." Katie says stopping when she spots something across the street. She nudges Oliver's side and he follows her eyes.

"What's that?" he asks as they walk over.

"That is a swing." Katie says simply at the swing that hangs from a tree. "I think I read a few weeks back about this artist putting this swing here in the middle of the business district in hopes that people will stop and just remember a simpler time." Katie walks over and sits on the swing and begins drifting back and forth.

"Do you remember that swing in Mrs. Crumbcakes backyard?" Oliver asks moving to stand behind her, before gently pushing her.

"I do, I also remember that not being that woman's name." Katie says laughing. "Your mother use to give you that scary look every time you called her that."

"It's not my fault her name was too difficult to pronounce." Oliver said joining into to her laughter. "That lady was so weird."

"And yet we had to go to her house and play with her even weirder grand daughter, Helga." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "Who if I'm not mistaken was your first kiss."

"I could've sworn we pinkie sweared that out of the realm of existence." Oliver said stopping the swing and leaning over to her. "Unless you want me to mention your run in with Lawrence Dale, and your seven minutes in heaven." Katie groans at the memory of being trapped in that closet with that boy who smelled of cheese and asked to smell her shoes.

"I hate you so much for bringing that up." Oliver chuckled as he brought his lips to hers.

For a few brief moments, the rest of the world didn't exist outside of the two of them. There weren't any mad men, or deadly serums that made men crazy with power, there weren't backstabbing women who steal your family’s company. It was just them...or so they thought.

Parked just across the street, in the back seat of a black SUV was Slade Wilson and his accomplice Isabel Rochev.

"You know it would be so easy to just walk over there and—"

"Easy yes, but I'm not finished toying with our dear Mr. Queen." Slade says not able to tear his eyes from the couple who were laughing as if their lives weren't in his hands. "I want her."

"He does not make it easy. " Isabel says glancing out the window as well. "He really does love her and he's holding on tight. Keeping her close, always with someone, never alone. It makes a clean capture that much harder."

"I don't care, I want her." Slade says once again before turning to the woman, who simply nods.

The next morning, Katie sat cross-legged on her bed with her laptop in front of her. She stared, biting the corner of her lip as she read yet another article on mass blood transfusion, trying to find a way that Slade could pass the Mirakuru along to his new soldiers.

"He's going to need a medical professional!" Katie called just as Oliver stepped from the bathroom. "We should see if anyone with a medical background has mysteriously gone missing."

"I'll pass it along to Felicity." Oliver says grabbing his suit jacket and sliding it on. Katie stood to her feet and walked over to the man as he fixed his tie in the mirror. She soon pushed his hand aside, so she could do it and he smiled down to her. "Come with me."

"Oliver, this is a family matter—"

"How many times do I have to tell you, you're family." Oliver says placing his hands above hers. "You here alone—"

"Where my house is covered with cameras, where you know the moment my front door opens, I know I'm so vulnerable." Katie says stalking out of the room, suddenly stopping in front of that door she tries religiously to pass as if it is not even there.

"Just go in." Oliver mutters from behind her. He maneuvers around her to grab the door knob before twisting it and pushing it open. The room was dark, with the slight sunlight filtering in. Katie took a deep breath before finally stepping inside the room. Oliver reached over and flicked on the light switch, illuminating the large room. Katie inhaled, the air stale, but she swears she can smell hints of her father's cologne.

"The last time I was in this room was the morning—" she felt the lump in her throat as she remembered the day her father had his stroke. "I was sitting on their bed, watching my dad as he rambled off his schedule before turning to me and telling me to be on time to meet him at the car lot." she walked over and sat on edge of the bed. "I'm tired of seeing you in that death trap of yours." she chuckled trying to mimic his voice.

"You know I think I remember seeing you in that ridiculous car. " Oliver laughed sitting beside her. "Once or twice when you were in town from college. I couldn't help but wonder why your dad would buy you that old ford fiesta."

"He didn't." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "While in college I had a job. I worked in the library of a senior center. I needed a car, so I bought one." she glanced over to Oliver who looked confused. "When I was young, my dad would always tell me that he would give me the world if I wanted it, but he said there's nothing more gratifying than working hard and taking the world yourself, and I don't know I believed him." her eyes looked around the room, so many memories hitting her one after the other. She simply shook her head before standing to her feet and walking from the room.

"Twinkie—" Oliver called following her into the hall. Katie stopped walking and turned back to him. He opened his mouth the speak, when the doorbell suddenly rang. "That's John."

"Go, I'm fine." Katie say leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips. "I will be here when you get back." Oliver sighed as he placed a hand on the woman's cheek and stared into her eyes. Even after all this time, there were still those moments that he had absolutely no idea what was going through her head. He shook away the thought before, dropping his head to meet her lips. It was these moments where everything else seemed to disappear, and he was starting to need those moments lately. The doorbell rang again, and Oliver let out a low groan. "Go, before you're late to the meeting. I'll walk you to the door."

"Fine." Oliver sighed, taking her hand and walking down the stairs to the door. Oliver pulled open the door, and as expected there was his friend.

"Oliver paying you extra to meet him at the door?" Katie asked and John laughed with a shake of his head. "You're playing the role of the black driver very well."

"Not well enough I'm guessing." John says turning to Oliver. "I'm playing bodyguard today." Katie looked at the man confused, before turning to Oliver as well. "And I'm guessing he didn't tell you." Oliver didn't turn to her, but she knew John was telling the truth. She held up a finger to John for him to wait a minute before she closes the door.

"Twinkie, before you—"

"You're really starting to offend me Oliver." Katie says with a shake of her head. "I understand you're afraid that at any moment Slade is going to magically appear and stick me in a box to torture you or something, but—"

"You can take care of yourself, I know that, Diggle is backup. He's good backup." Oliver says before reaching forward to open the door. "And you're taking the help."

"That sounded awfully like an order." Katie says glancing over to John. "Didn't that sound like an order?" John simply rose his hands in surrender, not wanting to get in the middle of anything.

"It's not an order, it's a suggestion. One you're going to take whether you like it or not." Oliver replies.

"It's the whole like it or not that makes it an order." Katie adds, only for Oliver to just simply lean forward to kiss her cheek.

"Tomato, tomahto." Oliver muttered before turning and walking out the door. Katie and John watched as he got into his car and drove off, before turning to each other.

"C'mon, I have coffee." Katie says moving aside to let the man into the house.

Coffee somehow turned into a game of cards, as the pair traded old stories. Soon conversation strayed to John's time in the army, and Katie couldn't help but ask him the one question she's been trying to answer since she stepped foot back in Starling.

"How did you do it?" Katie suddenly asked and John looked over to her, unsure what she was asking. "How did you alter your head space from being in the middle of a war zone, seeing people die, being the person behind the weapon that takes someone's life, and then coming back here and not going ballistic on someone whose upset that their non fat latte has too much foam?" John chuckled dropping his cards, with a shake of his head.

"The truth?" John asked and Katie nodded. "I had to talk to someone. I had seen a lot, like stuff I had nightmares about and it got bad." John sighed, looking down to the table. "Like sitting in a dark and holding my glock bad." he glanced back up to Katie. "That was the moment I realized that if I didn't talk to someone, if I didn't get all of that out of me, I was going die." Katie sat down her own cards. "You know I still have some business cards of some good counselors, I could lend them to you if you would like." Katie looked over to the man for a moment, about to reply when the doorbell rang. They both turned toward the door. "Felicity said she was sticking around the foundry to check out that flash you got."

"Plus she has a key." Katie says standing to her feet and heading through the kitchen door.

"Hey, wait." John says following behind her. "This seems a little funky to me, maybe we should just head out the back." Katie furrowed her brow with a shake of her head.

"Anyone bold enough to ring my doorbell deserves an answer." Katie replies before continuing to the door, ignoring John's protests. She reached forward and pulled it open, not expecting the person on the other side. "Jeremy?"

"Long time no see cuz." the man replied with a smile.

Felicity Smoak bled computers. She used to tell people that if you looked at her blood in a microscope, you would probably see tiny zeros and ones. It was this fact that made her ashamed to say that she was having a difficult time accessing the information on the USB drive Katie recovered from Martin Ellis.

"Son of bitch!" she snapped angrily when another access denied message appeared in front of her. She slapped the table with her palms before standing to her feet and beginning to pace back and forth. She tried closing her eyes and imagining the process, but she kept coming to the same line of code that seemed impossible to crack.

"Robins has you nervously pacing too." a voice said and Felicity stopped and looked over to see Bruce standing at the base of the stairs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I was just—"

"What are you doing here Bruce?" Felicity asked, and he couldn't even lie. The way she asked, the annoyance and aggression in her tone stung.

"I was looking for Oliver, there are some things that I've found that I need to pass along to him." Bruce replied.

"Oliver is obviously not here. He's in a meeting trying to figure out how to recover his company from Rochev the bitch warrior princess." Felicity said before turning and taking her seat back in front of the computer. "He's at the mansion." Bruce stood there for a moment, still not getting used to the woman's blatant dismissal. He shouldn't be surprised. He goes over that moment again and again in his head. He's standing on the balcony of the penthouse and she's standing there after saying the most beautiful words he thinks he's ever heard.

_Felicity Smoak had just spoken three words to Bruce Wayne, that he think literally took his breath away. He'd just locked away the bane of his existence at the moment, after a long grueling chase that almost cost him his anonymity. _

_"If you don't say something I think I'm going to explode." Felicity said still waiting on a response from the man. She'd decided on the way here that she was no longer going to play these games with him. She wanted to be honest and just put her feelings out there. It was something she knew was dangerous, and made her vulnerable, but she didn't care. She needed him to know and she also needed to know his feelings as well. _

_Bruce still stood trying to form a coherent thought and Felicity's heart was ramming in her chest with anxiety. This was her greatest fear of this moment. That he would tell her that he didn't have the same feelings.  
_

_"I think I'm going to throw up." Felicity said turning and grabbing the railing of the balcony, trying breathe. "This was stupid right? After everything, I just—" _

_"When I saw you standing in my front door after I specifically told you that I didn't want your help, I think I absolutely knew without a single doubt that I was head over heels in love with you Ms. Smoak." Felicity turned her eyes back to him. "And then I told you leave, and you stood in front of me and told me no. You said that I couldn't do everything on my own and because of that you were staying and you were going to help me whether I liked it or not." A smile pulled at Felicity's lips and Bruce felt sick, because he knew his next words were going to ruin this moment. It was going to change something he'd been analyzing and deliberating ever since he met the woman. "And then a crazy clown put a gun to your head and I nearly risked everything to save you. I nearly tore the mask off my face, and begged him to let you go because I think if he really did kill you then the world wouldn't have Bruce Wayne or the Batman." Bruce clenched his jaw and dropped his head, yelling inside of himself to stop talking, to not ruin this. He knew it was his heart, and yet his brain seemed stronger. "The Joker, no matter how sadistic and insane he was taught me something. "he looked back to the woman's awaiting eyes. "He taught me that when fighting the bad guys, you can't have your hand showing. You can't have any tells and you can't have such an obvious weakness." Bruce took a step toward her, but Felicity backed away, and the look in her eyes nearly tore the man apart. "You, Felicity Smoak, are my weakness and I can't—" _

_"Stop talking." Felicity interrupted bitterly. "I think we both get the gist of what's happening. You're breaking up with me, if that's what you can even call it since we never even defined—" She bit her tongue, as she felt herself breaking down, but she remembered her mother's words in this moment. _

_ **Never let them see you cry honey. If no one sees it, then it makes it that much easier to pretend as if it didn't happen. ** _

_Felicity took a final deep breath before looking back up to Bruce._

_"The Batman is a hero, he saves the people of Gotham and he shows the bad guys that there is someone here willing to stand up for justice." she shook her head and looked him over. "Bruce Wayne is an asshole. He's pompous, and he's arrogant and he's an idiot. I would've made you happy Bruce, but you just had to ruin it." Felicity shook her head woman again before stalking back into the penthouse. "I will pack my things and be out of here in a half an hour!" _

Bruce has never had as many doubts about anything, as much as he has about deciding to end things with Felicity. He kept telling himself that it was the most logical thing to do, that if he didn't end it, that they would regret it in the future and he couldn't do that to her. He refused to do that her. At least now she had a chance at even a semblance of a happy future.

Felicity growled once again, slamming her palms against the computer's keyboard.

"What are you working on?" Bruce asked and Felicity sighed glancing over her shoulder. "Look I get you want me to leave, but in the off chance that I could help you, do you really want to turn me away."

"It's too soon Bruce." Felicity said with a shake of her head. "It's only been a couple of weeks, and the memory is still fresh. You can't come here and just pretend like what happened, just didn't happen." Bruce stalked over and took the seat beside her, but she still refused to look at him.

"You said that you would've made me happy." Bruce spoke and Felicity turned to him. "I just wasn't sure I would've done the same for you. One day you're going to thank me for—"

"Stop talking Bruce." Felicity said coldly turning back to the computer. "I'm the last person you should expect sympathy from." Bruce shook his head before glancing to the monitor, his brow furrowing at the code he saw. Felicity glanced over to him. "What?"

"What is this code from?" Bruce asked and Felicity sighed turning back the screen.

"Martin Ellis." Felicity replied and Bruce turned to her with wide eyes. "The guy whose been dishing out these weird lessons, who keeps kidnapping her and making her kill people." she turns back to the monitor. "Apparently it's Mr. Ellis, who we all thought was dead, because that's what Katie told us. I'm still not even sure—"

"It was a story cooked up by ARGUS." Bruce said standing to her feet. "Maybe they know where he is—" Bruce turned and headed for the stairs of the club.

"I doubt it!" Felicity called after him and he turned to see her looking back at him. "Martin Ellis is being questioned."

"By who?" Bruce asked and Felicity rose a brow as she debated on telling him the information Oliver had adamantly told them not to reveal to anyone. "Felicity, this is important?"

"Why?"

"Because if this is Martin Ellis, then we may have bigger problems then we anticipated." Felicity stared in confusion, still missing the alert that someone was attempting to hack Katie's security system.

John chose to stand, his arms folded as they all found themselves in Katie's kitchen. Katie sat across from Jeremy who stared right back at her, neither even touching the coffee in front of them. John told her that something didn't seem right about this, that her cousin just mysteriously showing up was just all a little bit suspicious.

"Either you're stupid, or you have a thing about punishment. I could call the police right now and have you thrown in to a very dark prison for what you've done." Katie said and she couldn't believe that he chuckled. "Something funny? I trusted you. I had no idea how to run that company—"

"Exactly!" Jeremy snapped and John stood up a bit straighter, his hand slyly going to the gun he had tucked away behind him in his waistband. "I went to Harvard business school, and you went to medical school in Princeton. I have a MBA and you have a PHD. So tell me, why the hell would he name you the CEO?" Jeremy shook his head, that question he wished he could ask Jacob. "Your place was not at the head of that company, it was mine. It was always supposed to be me."

"And because you were skipped over, you decided to what, get back at him by stealing from the company he built?" Katie asked moving the mug out of the way. "I trusted you and I was going to give it to you, but you screwed up." she shook her head and stood to her feet.

"I got tired of always having to run everything by you. I was tired of everyone praising the hero of the Glades who also found time to keep her father's memory alive. It was supposed to be my time and you stole that away from me." suddenly the lights flickered above them and both Katie and John looked up confused. Soon the lights stopped flickering and went off all together.

"Katie?" John says moving toward the woman. "We need to leave."

"That's not happening." Jeremy says and both Katie and John look over to the man who stands to his feet. "You see dear cousin, I thought all hope was lost for me, but then something wonderful happened. I got offered a job. A great job and all I had to do was one thing."

"Jeremy, what—" before the sentence even came out of her mouth, Jeremy pulled a gun from somewhere inside of his jacket, and pointed it at John. "Jeremy, do not be stupid. Put down the gun."

"I can have it all back." Jeremy said staring at John, whose hand still gripped his gun. "Put your hands on your head John." John clenched his jaw, but released his gun and did as he was told, placing his hands on the back of his head.

"You're making a mistake." Katie said and Jeremy chuckled again. "It's why he chose the girl with the PHD over the guy with the MBA. You make too many mistakes that could easily be avoided." Suddenly they heard the front door open and everyone froze. There were high heeled feet that got closer, and soon a familiar face appeared. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Dr. Robins, good to see you again." Isabel Rochev said with a smile before turning to Jeremy who still held the gun aimed at John. "Shoot him."

"Jeremy, don't—" Katie's pleas fell on deaf ears, because the words weren't even out of her mouth before that shot rang through her house. She stood there frozen as she watched John fall back to the ground, and in an instant a familiar feeling crept inside of her as she turned back to Isabel who wore smirk.

"Alright doctor, I gather at his point you know what is happening. You are to come with me and—" Isabel stared at the woman, whose eyes still looked at the man gasping for air as he held a hand to the bleeding hole in his shoulder. "Doctor—" she was still ignored. "Listen you stupid bitch—" and for some reason beyond the realm of belief, Katie began laughing as she finally met Isabel's confused eyes.

"You couldn't honestly believe that it was going to be that easy?" Katie asked, her eyes darkening as she looked between Isabel and Jeremy. "You shoot my friend, and then think all obstacles are out of the way?"

"Give it up. You're all alone, with no one to protect you." Jeremy said with a shake of his head.

"And at what point did you start believing I needed someone to protect me?" Katie asked and without missing a beat, she grabbed the kitchen table before flipping it over and running out up the stairs that lead to the second floor of the house. Jeremy took a step forward, but Isabel caught his arm.

"I got her, you stay and watch him." Isabel replied before stalking toward the stairs. She climbed to the second floor, moving slowly, and keeping her ears open. "You know I've been waiting for this moment." she found the first room and pushed opened the door. It was a bedroom. She noticed the laptop on the bed, and the woman's clothes in the closet, figuring this was Katie's room. "The moment I finally get to wipe that self righteous look off your face." Isabel searched the room, but didn't hear anything and so she left to go to the next. "And now he's going to use you to make that airhead of a boyfriend of yours pay for everything he's done." Isabel stopped when she thought she heard a noise from the room she stood beside and so she turned and pushed open the door. This room seemed a bit thick with dust as if no one had been in it in a long time. "Awww, is this mommy and daddy's room?" The woman let her eyes roam over the room as she walked around. "You know I met him once, and he was just as annoying as you. If you ask me the day he was murdered was a great day in Starling." Isabel stopped moving when she felt the presence behind her and so she slowly turned to see Katie standing there. "And I was so hoping to find you cowering away in some closet somewhere, oh well." Isabel took a step forward, reaching out a hand to grab Katie, only for Katie to grab the woman's arm and push it from her. Isabel, swung her free arm, but Katie dipped to dodge it before sending a forceful kick to the woman's stomach sending her collapsing to the ground.

"He told you this was going to be easy." Katie said watching as the woman stumbled back to her feet. "And you believed him. That was your first mistake." Katie suddenly ran at the woman, tackling her to the floor.

Felicity stood in a state of shock after Bruce told her a story she wasn't quite sure she could believe. She turned away from him, still debating on the validity of the story and she had no reason to doubt it, but at the moment she really didn't think her team could handle any more life shattering information. Her eyes suddenly fell to her cell phone that was blinking and she quickly went over to it.

"Shit!" Felicity said as she swiped over her screen. "Shit! Shit! Shit!." she turned to Bruce with wide eyes.

"What? "

"Problem, one big fucking problem!" Felicity replied already dialing before bringing the phone to her ear. "You need to get to Katie's house, I think she may be in trouble." Bruce didn't ask any questions before turning and running out of there.

Oliver stood in the living room of the mansion after their lawyer left. The only way to save their family's income was to move assets from Isabel and to do that they all needed to sign off on it. Including Thea,who wasn't talking to either one of them at the moment. He watched as his mother signed the contracts after telling him of his father's past affair with Isabel.

"You take this to Thea, and you convince her, somehow, to help us fight back." Moira said before handing her the papers. Oliver simply nodded before the woman turned and walked from the room. Oliver glanced down to the papers when his cell phone suddenly rang. He mindlessly pulled it from his pocket before bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

_"Oliver?"_ Felicity's frantic voice spoke. "_We have a problem, you need to get to Twinkie as soon as possible."_

Without a word, Oliver gripped the contract before running out of the house to his car.

Isabel rolled down the stairs as Katie stalked down toward her. Both women looked tired and beaten, but it was obvious who had the upper hand. Isabel pushed herself back away from Katie, trying to place as much distance as possible, but soon Katie was standing right there in front of her.

"I'm going to kill you now." Katie said before reaching forward to grab her.

"Don't move!" a voice called and Katie stopped and turned to see John on his knees as Jeremy held a gun to the back of his head. "You touch her and he's dead." Katie's eyes went to John who was growing pale from the blood loss. She looked back to Jeremy who stared nervously to the woman still on the floor.

"Katie, just go, get out of here!" John yelled at her and Katie looked back to him with a small smile. "Just go. You and I both know Slade can't get you."

"And yet she has no other choice." Isabel seethed, before punching Katie so hard in the face, the woman dropped to the floor, only catching herself on the palms of her hands. Isabel let out a satisfied breath before pulling her cell phone from her pocket and dialing a number. "You see Mr. Diggle, Slade Wilson always gets what—" There was a gunshot that didn't fire from Jeremy's gun. Isabel watched as Jeremy stood there for a couple of seconds, his eyes still open even with the hole in his forehead before simply dropping to the floor. John slid out of the way, behind the couch as Isabel turned to Katie who held a gun pointed at her.

"I have weapons hidden all over this place." Katie said taking a couple of steps toward the woman, as she wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand. "You are going to tell me where your boss is before I kill you and make it last for as long as possible." Isabel stared at her with a tilted head, still surprised at the events that lead to this moment. "So help me, if you don't start talking!" Katie heard sirens outside, and turned her head.

"Katie, she's running!" John called and Katie turned to in fact see the woman heading for the kitchen. Katie turned, running after her. She barreled through the kitchen and out the back door, but there was no one there.

"SCPD, drop the gun!" a voice from behind her ordered and Katie held up her hands. Suddenly an officer was behind her, snatched the gun from her hand before pushing her face down in the grass, as cuffs were forced onto her wrists. Katie lifted her head, still scanning the area in hopes of spotting the woman, but she really was just gone.

  
The moment Oliver pulled up in front of the house, his heart sank into his stomach. There were squad cars lined along the block, as police officers moved about the house. He couldn't see her and right now he thinks the only thing he needs is to see her. He began moving toward the house, but a police officer moved to block him.

"I'm sorry sir, this is still an active crime scene, I can't let you anywhere on the premises." the officer ordered, and Oliver's jaw clenched, and he was only able to take a single step toward the man, before he's grabbed from behind and pulled away. It wasn't until he turned, did he realize who it was.

"Bruce, what are you—"

"I was with Felicity when she got the alert." Bruce said letting his eyes going over the house that was now being taped off by the police. "Where is Robins?"

"I don't—" Oliver turned back to the house, trying to ignore the tightening in his chest. Suddenly a familiar face appeared, and Oliver's eyes widened seeing John now being rolled out on a stretcher, a bloodied bandage wrapped around his soldier. Oliver and Bruce ran to meet him, before he is placed in the ambulance. "John—"

"Oliver—" John tries to sit up, but the EMTs, push him down. "I told you I'm fine!" he looks back to Oliver whose still awaiting him answers. "You need to get in there, she's—" John dropped his head for only a moment.

"Diggle?"

"She's not in a good place." John replied once again meeting his friend's eyes. "It was Jeremy, he was working with Slade and he tricked her and when push came to shove, she—she chose to save my life, even if it meant taking his." Oliver's eyes widen as he looks back to the house. "They're questioning her now, but she's doesn't seem to be taking this well." without another word, Oliver just bolted toward the door, ignoring the orders from the police. He ran inside the house, and he saw her immediately. She was sitting on the couch in the living room and he quickly ran over, kneeling in front of her. Officers followed about to grab him, but suddenly a hand lifts to stop them.

"It's alright." Lieutenant Frank Pike says as he looks down to couple. "Dr. Robins I think I get the gist of what happened here, but if i have any more questions I'll give you a call. This all seems like it was self defense, but for now I would try to get some rest, maybe—" he looked around the house that was wreck. "Maybe find somewhere else to stay for the rest of the night." he looked back down to Oliver, who still held Katie's hand as he continued looking toward the woman's blank eyes. "And Mr. Queen, my officers usually give orders for a reason. Next time follow them."

"Yes sir." Oliver muttered not even turning to the man.

Soon the crime scene had been processed, and the only people left in the house were Katie and Oliver who hadn't moved.

"Talk to me." He finally followed Katie's eyes to see her staring at a blood stain on the carpet in front of them. "You didn't have a choice, you—"

"I had a shot to his shoulder, maybe a graze to his neck." Katie said still staring at the stain in the carpet. "I had a choice and I chose the kill shot." she finally turned to Oliver meeting his eyes. "I chose the kill shot." Katie's eyes turned back to the blood stained carpet for just a few moments. It was a choice that once again brought out some many insecurities she thought she had over came.

"You can't stay here." Oliver muttered letting his eyes look over the place. "We thought this place was safe, but obviously it's not. I'm bringing you to the mansion—"

"Oliver, this only proves that I am a very volatile person to be around and I wouldn't dare put your family at risk!"

"They're already at risk, with or without you!" Oliver snapped standing to his feet so he toward over her. "Slade got too close to you this time. He found a way—" Oliver glanced around the destroyed house. "A way into our house and I don't know—" he shook his head looking back down to her. "I don't know what else to do. The mansion is big and there's more security around." Katie thought for a few moments and at the moment didn't have an argument to combat that. She thinks if the moment wasn't as fresh as it was, if her fingers still weren't tingling and the dark feeling wasn't still moving around her skin, she thinks she would, but she simply turned to Oliver and nods as she stands to her feet.

Oliver walks with her upstairs, looking around to the damage that had made it up there. Katie stops at her parents bedroom door, and simply shakes her head before going to her room to pack some clothes.

Once they arrived at the mansion, Katie stepped out of the car and looked up to it for a moment.

_"You're poison, killer."_ said the voice that only she could here. _"It's only a matter of time before you infect them all."_

Oliver soon took her hand and lead her to the door.

"My mom had another meeting this afternoon, so she's not here, but I called her and told her you would be staying here."

"I'm sure she was thrilled." Katie muttered as they walked through the doors of the massive home. "I need to shower and change.

"And I'll call the others and tell them to meet us at the foundry." Oliver replied. Katie nodded before heading up the stairs.

Hot water fell on Katie's head as she tried to tear her mind from seeing it over and over in her head. The bullet going into her cousin's head, and the look on his face as the life behind his eyes just drifts away. She didn't need another death on her back, but that's exactly what she got today. Katie let her eyes close, and lifted her head so the water fell to her face.

_When the bus station finally came into sight, Katie doesn't think she's ever been more relieved in her life. For a while there, she thought the strange British man was leading her on some kind of wild goose chase that would end with some sort of goat sacrifice or something. They arrived just outside the doors of the station, before Constantine turned back to her. He pulled a ticket from his pocket and handed it to her. _

_"Alright, here it is." he said and Katie took the ticket from his hand and glanced down to it. _

_"Black Eagle Montana to Coast City?" she said in confusion before looking back up to the man._

_"It's the closest you're getting home, once you're there, I'm sure you can call your father and he'll send the national guard or something for you." the man replied and Katie sighed. He gave her a nod, before turning about to walk away. _

_"Wait!" she said and he stopped and turned back to her. "That's it. You rescue me, get me to safety and now you're leaving?" _

_"What else is there, love?" _

_"How about the truth?" she asked taking a step forward. "Tell me how did you know where I was, how do you know my mother, why did you bring me here?" _

_"I already told you all the truth you need to know. Anything else, you're just not ready for."_

_"Passengers going to Coast City, your bus is now boarding." A voice said over the loud speaker. Katie's eyes went back to the man who gave her another nod before turning and finally leaving. Katie took a deep breath before turning and stepping through the doors of the station. She glanced up in search of the way to her bus. _

_"You look lost." a voice said from behind her, and Katie froze in place. It was a familiar voice from someone she thought she had escaped. Katie finally turned around to the eyes of the woman she really hoped never to see again. "I'm glad I found you." _

_"Agent Michaels, let me guess my new British friend is one of yours?" Katie asked asked glancing around, now seeing the eyes on her from surrounding agents trying to blend in. _

_"No, your new British friend belongs to no one." Lyla replied looking up as two agents walked up behind Katie. "Which only surprised us when he gave us a call telling us where we could find you." the woman pressed a finger to the comlink in her ear. "We have her, and we're moving out." _

Katie stepped from the bathroom where she found Oliver now changed and standing in the middle of his room.

"I told everyone we'd meet them over there in an hour." Oliver said and Katie nodded before walking over to her bag and taking out some clothes. Oliver simply watched her, looking for some sort of indication of what was going in in her head. "What do you need?" he asked suddenly and Katie turned and looked to him. He walked over to stand in front of her, his hands going to rest on her hips. "Right now, this moment, what do you need?" Katie smiled up to him, sliding a hand along his cheek before shaking her head.

"Right now the only thing I need is to forget and I don't think there is much you could—" Her words were cut off by Oliver's lips against her own, proving her own words a lie. The moment his lips moved against hers, and his tongue swept inside her mouth, she did forget everything, even if it were for only a few moments.

When he pulled back, their breaths mingling as he gently dropped his forehead against hers. He stared into her eyes for a few moments.

"You're not a monster." he doesn't know why he said those words, but he just had a feeling that right now she needed to hear them. Katie looked up into his eyes, his words hitting her unexpectedly. She had to drop her head from his gaze, had to will the tears from emotions she wasn't even sure why she was having, from falling.

"How do you know that?" she whispers and Oliver fingers slid underneath her cheek to lift her eyes back to his. "I don't even know that."

"I've seen a lot of monsters in my life. None with your heart." he smiled as he pressed another kiss to her lips. "And none who would let me call them Twinkie." they laughed as he brought his lips back to hers.

When they finally got to the club, the others were already waiting inside, including a Mr. John Diggle who wore a sling around his arm.

"Why aren't you in the hospital?" Katie asked the man, walking over to look at his arm.

"Because I've been shot far worse than this, and still went back to the fight." John replied and Katie looked up to his eyes. "I've been meaning to thank you."

"Don't thank me John for saving your life." Katie sighed with a shake of her head.

"I'm sorry you had to do that, if there is anything I can do—" Katie simply held up a hand to stop him.

"I'm fine." she replied looking over to Felicity who silently stared in concern. "Really I'm fine." she glanced back over to Oliver. "More important things—" she looked over to Sara. "Your dad, how is he?" they were all a bit worried when they heard that Lance was arrested for not revealing where the Arrow was, but they were hoping the fact that he was telling the truth would get him out of this mess.

"He's willing to go to jail for the Arrow." Sara replied glancing over to Oliver.

"What about Roy?" Katie asked looking around. "Anyone heard from him?"

"I went to check out his apartment before I came by your house today, it was empty." John says glancing over to Oliver. "Seemed like he cleared out days ago."

"Where the hell did he go?" Oliver asked, more to himself, but he shook his head. "Look, Roy will have to wait. Right now we need to deal with Slade. Figure out what his next move is." Oliver spoke as he lead the others to the basement. "I know Slade, and today he failed at getting Katie—" they walked down the stairs to the basement of the club. "He's not going to stop—" Katie suddenly grabbed his arm stopping him from taking another step. Oliver turned to her in confusion, but soon he wasn't confused anymore.

"Welcome home." came a deep raspy voice and all their eyes turned to see Deathstroke standing there in the middle of the lair.

After that, everything erupted in craziness. The man pulled out a gun and began firing and everyone went searching for cover. Oliver wrapped an arm around Felicity, before jumping over the railing and pushing her to cover. He stood quickly, looking up to see Katie jump over the railing as well. He threw his hands up to catch her as they all dropped to the floor to take cover from the bullets. Soon the lights went out, and they heard the scream of Sara as she went to attack the man who only caught her by the throat and tossed her like a rag doll. Oliver looked to see John running toward the man with his own gun and cursed under his breath.

"Diggle stay back!" Oliver yelled the warning, but John just didn't hear him because he kept going, even when he ran out of bullets that didn't even seem to be hurting the man. He growled turning back to Katie and Felicity. "Stay here." he suddenly bolted toward the man who sent John flying through the glass display. Katie peeked from their spot to see Oliver now fighting with a pair of steel escrima sticks against Slade's sword. Both men moved quickly, each move being matched by the other, until Slade got the upper hand, using his sword to push Oliver forcefully. Soon his blade met Oliver's arm causing the man to scream in pain. In one swift movement, Slade swept the sticks aside before grabbing Oliver and flipping him on his back.

"Don't forget who taught you how to fight kid." Slade growled before standing to his feet, his eyes searching the darkness.

Katie made to stand to her feet, but Felicity caught her arm and held on tight. Katie glanced over to the woman, who she could see silently shaking her head. It was too dark, and Katie pulled from Felicity's grasp to the light switch, flicking it on to find the man gone. Katie stood there, her eyes scanning around to see everyone pushing themselves from the floor. She ran over to John who was moving slowly.

"I'm fine." he grumbled, but she could see through it. She grabbed his arm and helped to stand before going over to Sara, who had a gash on her forehead. The woman stumbled as she stood, but Katie grabbed her arm before she could hit the ground.

"I got you." Katie said, tossing the woman's arm around her neck trying to carry her to a chair.

"I'm fine." Sara muttered as she’s lowered to the chair.

"I will decide that." Katie said looking closely at the wound on her head. "It could just be a hairline fracture, but you're going to need a CT to be sure."

"What, no hospital." Sara argued. "This is your job right? Just patch me up." Katie sighed glancing over to John who pulled back his sling, revealing some torn stitches. She shook her head before turning back to Oliver who still stood in a bit of shock at what just happened.

That's when the laughter came to her ears again, that cackle that always sent a chill down her spine. She glanced over to see her own personal ghost in the corner just laughing at her.

_"Can't be scared now monster. There is no fear."_ he said and his words were echoing in her head. _"Only action. Ask him." _Lian nudged his head and Katie turned to follow his eyes and there standing with a smirk on his face was her cousin, the hole in his head oozing blood.

_"You didn't hesitate to shoot me and yet you cower from the man in the weird mask." he said. "And he was actually dangerous. I was just your idiot cousin and yet I'm the one in a body bag." _

"Twinkie?" Oliver spoke noticing the woman's sudden silence. He walked over to stand in front her, her eyes seeming to look beyond him. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a slight shake, but there was no reaction.

_There was a humming sound coming from somewhere around her. Katie sat on the window seat of a small plane, the distant voice of Agent Michaels talking to her, but all she heard was that humming. Suddenly a hand reached for her, and she has no idea why, but she grabbed the perpetrators hand before they could touch her, twisting it and pushing them back. Suddenly the sounds of clips being pulled back echoed around and Katie found herself back in the moment. She looked down to see agent Michaels now on the floor holding her wrists as agents aimed their guns at her. _

_"What the hell was that?" Lyla growled standing to her feet and lowering herself back to her seat. She waved the agents to drop their weapons, which they did before taking their seat. "Katie—" _

_"What now?" Katie asked the woman. "I escaped and now you have me again. Do I go to Gotham, am I going on some secret mission, are you shipping me off to steal some painting from Paris. What now?" _

_"Waller will give you your orders." Lyla replied simply and Katie rolled her eyes before turning back to look out the window. "I know given the circumstances, this may be a stupid question, but are you alright?" Katie let out a slight chuckle. _

_"You're right." Katie muttered not even bothering to look at the woman. "That is a stupid question." _

A blinding light seemed to hit Katie expectantly causing her to jerk back. There was a hand that grabs her arm, and she nearly attacks, but stops when she realizes she knows the perpetrator.

"Chris, what are you doing here?" Katie asked the man.

"I work here." Christian replied, and that's when Katie looks around to see that she's currently in a hospital room. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was at the club with Oliver and—" Katie stops when she figures that maybe she shouldn't mention the ambush from the crazy guy in the mask. "That's it." she looks back over to the doctor with a slight shake of her head. "What happened?"

"How are things going with Oliver?" Christian asked and Katie stared with a quirked brow. "It's just I noticed the bruise on your cheek, and then there are the bruises on your arms." Katie glanced down to see that the man was right. There were bruises appearing from her tussle with Isabel this morning. "Look if you want to tell me something—"

"Chris stop." Katie says meeting the man's eyes. "Oliver didn't do this. Oliver wouldn't do this." she glanced around. "Is that why he isn't in here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you alone in case—" the man sighed with a shake of his head.

"Christian?"

"Last year when I wanted to hire you, I did the necessary background check and you were perfect for the job."

"But Bruce bribed you and you rejected me, what's your point?"

"Well after that, I received more information from the background check. Something that kind of shocked me." Katie looked at him, and noticed the look of pity that was suddenly in his eyes and she already knew what he'd found out.

"You know about my kidnapping."

"I do and now you make so much sense now. The no sleeping, and the irregular eating patterns, the stress and the toll its taking on your physical and mental health." Chris said and Katie shook her head before turning to stand from the bed. "You need help. I think you've needed help for a long time." Katie stood from the hospital bed and walked over to grab her jacket. "You need to be admitted and monitored, maybe even medicated."

"I'm fine." Katie muttered not really interested in the doctor's diagnosis.

"That's just it, you're not fine!" the doctor snapped standing to his feet and moving to block her way out. "Look at me." Katie turned to meet his eyes. "You know I'm right. Know that if the tables were turned, you'd be doing exactly what I'm doing right now." Katie tried to side step him, but he continued to block her. "How can you walk out the door? You know the risks associated with PTSD. Know how dangerous it could be if it gets really bad."

"I do know the risks, but I do not have PTSD. I'm just—" Katie shook her head trying to describe her current state of being, but was coming up blank for some reason. She turned back to Christian who waited for an answer. "I'm fine, because I have to be fine. There's no time for me not to be fine."

"Why not?"

"Because there just isn't." Katie replied once again trying to get around the man, but he moved to block her. "Please move or I will move you." Christian sighed stepping aside letting the woman move toward the door.

"One day your house of cards is gonna fall Katie." Christian said stopping the woman as her hand touches the door knob. "Just remember you had the chance to stop it and chose not to. As a patient it makes you look foolish, but as a doctor it just makes you look stupid." Katie didn't say anything before pulling open the door and walking out into the hall, almost bumping into someone.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't—" Katie looked up to see yet another unexpected familiar face. "Laurel?" The woman seemed to study Katie's face, her eyes lingering on the bruise on her cheek. "It's nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing." Laurel replied meeting the woman's eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Katie replied automatically. "It's just been a crazy day."

"Tell me about it. I just came from seeing Sara. Apparently her and Oliver were in some kind of motorcycle accident." Laurel replied and Katie's eyes widen. She wasn't aware of the story, but figured she should probably play along.

"Are they alright?" she asked glancing down the hall.

"They’re fine. Sara just has a hairline fracture, and Oliver barely has any scars." Laurel replied and Katie turned letting out a sigh of relief. "You didn't know about this?"

"No, I had an appointment." Katie lies with a nudge down the hall. "I should probably go check on Oliver." Katie made to step, but Laurel stopped her.

"Do Oliver and Sara hang out often alone on his motorcycle?" the woman asked and Katie knew what she was getting at. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to make any assumptions, I just know Oliver."

"I think I do too."

"I've also had experience in being Oliver's girlfriend. He's into self sabotage, so if I were you, I would be careful with him." Laurel replied turning to see Oliver himself walking toward them. "Well I should get going." she gave the man a nod before hurrying down the hall.

"Hey." Oliver said his hand automatically, wrapping around Katie's waist and pulling her to him. "Are you alright? I would've stayed but Dr. James kicked me out."

"That's because he thinks you did this to my face." Katie said, and Oliver's eyes widen in disbelief. "Don't worry I told him you didn't."

"So what happened? You totally just blanked." Oliver said and Katie just shook her head.

"It was nothing. Just the day catching up to me, but I'm fine." Katie replied, turning away from Oliver, a move he knows means she's not being completely honest with him.

"Is that what Christian thinks?" Oliver asks and Katie sighs pulling from his grasp and turning to walk down the hall. "Honesty remember? We promised." Katie stops walking and turned back to him. "What is it?"

"He thinks I have PTSD from the traumatic events that have happened in my life. That I should be admitted and monitored to see how severe it actually is and to see if there is some kind of treatment that may need to be in place." Katie says with a roll of her eyes. "But it's a load crap because I'm fine. Where's Sara, we should go." Oliver didn't say anything as he stood there staring at the woman, still trying to process the information. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine." That look in his eyes, that pity she really hated seeing from people looking at her was very clear in his eyes. "Look we don't have time for me to have these kind of issues. We have bigger problems." she turned down the hall to see Sara who seemed to be walking over almost hesitantly.

"Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine. We should regroup, find out why Slade decided not to kill us." Katie said turning back to Oliver. "He had us pinned down and he chose not to kill us. Either he's grown a heart or it was another game and we're just not seeing what he's playing at." Oliver still didn't says anything as both Katie and Sara looked to him waiting for some kind of response. "Liver—"

"Can you get back to the club on your own?" Oliver asked turning to Sara who silently nodded, before glancing over to Katie. "Good, I will meet you there." Sara nodded again before walking away, sharing a confused look with Katie as she past. Once she was gone, Oliver turned back to Katie's awaiting gaze.

"Don't do this Oliver. Don't make this, this big thing that needs to be dissected and picked apart because it really doesn't."

"If this was me, what would you do?" Oliver asked simply, and Katie shook her head turning away from him. She hated that he asked that question because she didn't like the answer.

"I'm not being admitted." she stated simply. "I don't need to be admitted."

"Then maybe you need to take a step back from this Slade front." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with wide eyes. "Twinkie, for the past couple of months, I've been looking at you, wondering how you can go through what you've gone through, what you're still going through and come out the other end—" he sighed. "Just fine, but I'm starting to see the truth. Behind that mask you have up. You're not fine, you're probably miles from fine."

"How dare you judge me?" Katie asked taking a step toward the man. "Can you stand there and say you're one hundred percent? That Slade being here hasn't thrown you off your game."

"I will admit that, but for the first time I think I'm finally noticing that your demons may be darker than mines." Oliver said and Katie scoffed, turning from his eyes once again. "Twinkie—"

"Take me home." Katie says turning back to him, and the look in her eyes, the look of betrayal she sends him cuts deep, but he doesn't show it. He's doing this for her, whether she believes it or not.

Katie realized the moment they pulled up to the mansion, that Oliver wasn't taking her home. She figured he probably wouldn't and at this point she didn't feel like arguing with him and so she stepped out of the car and headed for the door. She had to wait for him since she didn't have a key and the moment he appeared beside her, he didn't even attempt to open the door. Katie rolled her eyes before turning to him.

"Would you open the door?"

"You never answered my question." Oliver says and Katie sighs. "If this were the other way around, what would you do?"

"What does it matter?" she asks turning back to the door.

"It matters because I think your answer might prove how much of a hypocrite you're being." Oliver replied and Katie sent him a glare as he reached forward to open the door. He let her walk inside, before following behind her. "My mom is probably here somewhere." he glanced back down to her. "You should eat something, maybe take a nap, watch some television—"

"And just pretend like I didn't kill my cousin this morning, followed by watching my boyfriend and my friends getting their asses kicked by some psychotic guy who wants to spread a disease in our city." Katie turned for the stairs, but Oliver caught her around the waist.

"I just need you to take one night to just stop and breathe." Oliver says placing a kiss to the side of her head. "I'm strongest when you're at my side." Katie turned back to meet his eyes. "You're my guardian after all." Katie placed a hand on his cheek before leaning forward to place a kiss to his lips.

"You're so annoying." she mutters before turning and heading up the stairs. Oliver couldn't help the smile that came to his face as he watched her.

"I love you too Twinkie." he called after her, only getting a wave in response.

Katie stepped inside of Oliver's large empty room and let out a deep sigh. She was no good at being idle, and yet here she was. She stripped off of her jacket and walked over to the bed and laid down, her eyes going to the ceiling.

"You're fine." she whispered to herself. "You can close your eyes and just go to sleep." she did as she said, slowing her breaths hoping that it would just happen, and yet there was something inside of her that didn't want it to happen. That part of her that was just afraid of reliving those three years, and witness all the terrible things she's been through in her dreams. Katie didn't give up though. She lied there, tossing and turning, hoping that at some point sleep would just happen. When she finally opened her eyes she realized that the little sunlight that was there, was now gone. It was still hard for her to admit that there was a problem and so she would keep denying the obvious. "Milk!" she sat up from the bed and headed from the door. She remembers when she was younger and had a difficult time sleeping after her mother died, her father always made her a glass of warm milk that knocked her out.

Katie decided to change into her pajamas so there would be nothing keeping her from getting to bed once she's had her milk. She grabbed her robe, tying it around herself before finally leaving Oliver's room. It was the moment she stepped into the dimlit hall did she realize how creepy the big mansion was to be in alone. It reminded her so much of Bruce's house when she was younger and would get lost all the time. When Katie reached the steps, she found herself looking around for life somewhere in the house. It was late, and she figured that maybe everyone here was probably already asleep.

The kitchen was illuminated by a small light in the corner, which at least let Katie know where the refrigerator was. When she opened it, her eyes widened at the array of foods and beverages that stocked the shelves. It was very different than her refrigerator which she and Oliver were terrible at stocking. They usually lived off of take out because she couldn't cook. She always had the suspicions that maybe he did, but just hid it in an effort to saved himself from being deemed the cook of the house.

"Milk...milk...where is the—" her eyes caught sight of a carton of milk and she quickly grabbed it, but frown as she read the label. "Organic milk?" she grimaced as she placed it back in the refrigerator. "That does not sound appetizing at all."

"It's healthier." a voice said startling Katie who turned to see Moira. The woman stood make up free in a night gown and long silk robe, and even now in this dim lit kitchen still looked beautiful. It was the word Katie thought many times as she admired the woman. You'd never know the woman standing in front of her, was digging through her own shit storm. "Plus I guess the cows are treated more humanely. Or at least that's what Thea said while badgering me to have it stocked."

"I'm sorry, I was just looking for something to help me sleep, and I thought a warm glass of milk might help." Katie says closing the refrigerator. "But alas Organic has come to ruin my life."

"You're a very peculiar doctor." Moira said with a soft smile.

"That is not the first time I've been called that. I'm all for being healthy, but I am also a strong believer in indulgence. Sometimes you just want milk that has fat." she shrugged, feeling slightly nervous suddenly being alone with the woman. "I'm sure I can manage with out it. I'll get out of your way." Katie headed for the stairs.

"I'm sorry." Moira said suddenly, stopping Katie in her tracks. "I feel so—" she shook her head turning to meet Katie's eyes. "I'm ashamed of the things I said to you."

"Mrs. Queen—" Moira held up a hand to stop her and Katie just closed her mouth.

"I'm not sure you understand what it's like to be a mother. It's hard, because you'll give anything—" Moira sighed walking over and taking a seat at the kitchen table."The happiness of my children means the world to me and I would've given anything to not see that look in my daughter's eyes when she found out the truth." she glanced over to Katie with a shake of her head. "I think I let it get the best of me. I said some very nasty things to you, about your family and—"

"Mrs. Queen." Katie says once again hoping to get a word in. She walked over and took the seat across from the woman. "I'll admit that the things you said did—" she turned her head trying to find words to convey what was going on in her head. "They were hurtful—" she looked back to Moira, whose eyes seemed to grow with more guilt. "But I do understand wanting to keep the people you love happy no matter what and I understand that it can become morally compromising sometimes and we can push ourselves too far, but that's not what matters. What matters is that we have the heart to realize when it happens and correct it." Moira silently stared at the woman for few moments, and Katie soon realized where Oliver got his knack for his silent contemplation. "What?"

"I'm glad he has you." Moira said simply and Katie turned away bashfully. "He needs someone like you."

"I know lots of people who would disagree with you on that." Katie muttered. Moira quirked a brow and Katie soon wished she hadn't said anything. "Forget I said that." Katie stood to her feet hoping to just run away from another painfully awkward conversation. She was already heading for the door, when Moira's voice once again stopped her.

"There are only two people in a relationship." Moira said and Katie stopped and turned to her. "Only two people whose opinions matter. Remember that." Katie smiled with a nod. "And if you're really interested in something that will knock you out, I may have something that will help." a coy smile came to the woman's lips and Katie lifted a brow in curiosity.

"Does it include alcohol?" Katie asked.

"Maybe a smidge." the woman replied and Katie smiled once again. "That's not a problem is it?"

"Not at all." Katie said with a shrug before walking over. "Tell me, has Oliver ever told you anything about Drunk Twinkie?"

Fortunately, Moira's smidge didn't unleash Drunk Twinkie, just brought out the slightly buzzed Twinkie who soon found herself lying on the couch in front of a blazing fire alone. Her eyes were getting heavy as she watched the dancing flames and soon she got what she wanted.

_Katie kept her eyes ahead despite the eyes she felt on her from the agents who seemed to freeze in the hall as she walked by. Apparently none of them thought they would see her again, and to be honest she thought the same thing. Lyla led Katie to a door to which she knocked._

_"Come in." A familiar voice called from the other side and Lyla turned to Katie._

_"You're not coming in?" Katie asked and Lyla simply shook her head. "So that bad huh?"_

_"You won't know until you go inside." Lyla replied giving the woman a pat on the shoulder before walking away. Katie's eyes went back to the door, when she took a deep breath and finally took the steps to walk inside. The moment she did walk inside, her feet froze when she saw Agent Waller sitting behind her desk and none other than Martin Ellis sitting across from her._

_"Katie, have a seat." Waller said pointing to the empty chair beside Martin. Katie didn't even attempt to move, still confused and suspicious of everything at the moment. "It's quite alright, I assure you are safe." still there was no movement._

_"Here." Martin says standing to his feet and reaching behind him for the gun he had tucked away. Katie took a slight step back, her fist clenching at her side on the offense only for the man to hold the gun out to her to take. "I get the feeling having this will help you feel more comfortable."_

_"But it won't make me comfortable." Waller said clearly annoyed by the man's gesture. Katie glanced over to her, before reaching over and taking the man's gun. She quickly removed the clip to see that it was loaded before putting it back and walking over to sit, keeping the gun visibly in her lap. "Now then—" she looked over to Martin who took his seat as well, before turning back to Katie. "I'm sure you have many questions—"_

_"None that you will answer, so how about we skip that part and just get to the reason we're all here." Katie said turning to Martin. "You betrayed my father, aligned yourself with these people, and Ra's and aided in my kidnapping." she turned back to Waller. "You're the bitch who trapped me with a psychopath who shot at me." Katie sat back in her seat with a smile. "And now I'm sitting in a room with both of you with a loaded weapon."_

_"I told you this was a mistake." Waller said turning her glare from Katie to Martin who kept his eyes on Katie with a look of amazement. "She's not ready."_

_"Maybe not, but we had a time frame and that time is up." Martin says finally turning to the woman. "There is a plan in place Agent Waller and no one deviates from that plan."_

_"What the hell are you two talking about?" Katie asked and Martin turned back to her with a smile._

_"You're finally getting what you want." Martin replies._

_"She's still a valuable asset to this agency. With more training, and a little more discipline—"_

_"She has managed to escape your capture, and that of the demon and mine for that matter." Martin replies with a slight shake of her head. "She has done what was intended."_

_"There are still threats, there is no verification that Ra's—"_

_"Special Agent Waller as much as I respect and admire you, I'm going to have to ask you to stop speaking now." Martin said and Waller's eyes widen at the man's tone. He turned back to Katie who still sat confused unsure what exactly is happening. "In about—" he glanced down to his watch. "—eighteen hours you are going to arrive on the steps of the American Embassy in Bosnia where you are going to tell the tale of how savage extremists took you away and kept you locked in a dark cell until one day the door opened and no one was there and you ran and ran until you saw that big red, white and blue flag."_

_"What?"_

_"It's time you get back to the real world." Martin says with a firm nod. "Time for you to finally get out of hell." Katie looked at him with wide eyes, before turning to Waller who still wore a sour expression._

Katie felt a hand on her cheek, and her eyes snapped open to find those blue eyes she'd been waiting for long time to see.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Oliver asked, his voice filled with exhaustion.

"Your mother got me drunk and couldn't carry me upstairs." Katie muttered sitting up, so Oliver could sit beside her. His arm wrapped around her, pulling her to his side as she snuggled against his chest.

"I hope you're joking." Oliver muttered glad for the moment to just sit and close his eyes.

"Long night?" Katie said.

"Yeah, Slade stole some device that's going to let him transfer blood to multiple people." Oliver said and Katie lifted her head to look at him.

"How did he even get it?"

"The attack was a diversion. He took the skeleton key and broke into Star Labs to get it."

"And we're not knocking down every door to find it because..."

"Slade is one man and for him to transfuse that much blood, it's going to weaken him and when it does, that's when we attack." Oliver replied lifting open his eyes to the ceiling.

"Too easy." Katie said and Oliver looked back down to her. "I know I'm always playing Debbie downer, but Slade isn't the guy who doesn't plan for every detail." Katie's hand slid to Oliver's cheek and he turned to her. "Is this all we have on him?"

"Yeah, Felicity says if this thing is powered on, it'll need a lot of power and that will draw attention. "

"Once it does, we have him?" Katie asked and the man nodded. "You're not wearing your triumphant face."

"I'm not celebrating until I'm standing over that man's body." Oliver said slight stretching his sore muscles. Katie reach up a hand to his shoulder, hoping to soothe the tightness the man was holding. "Hopefully Isabel will be there with him." he let out a sigh, enjoying the comfort to his shoulder. "I went to the office to see her."

"You what?" Katie stopped and he glanced over to her. "Why?"

"I was tired of doing nothing and just waiting. She knows where Slade is—"

"She's also a crazy Slade Wilson stan who seems too loyal for her own good." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "Pair that with the fact that she broke into our house—"

"A fact that seemed to hit me the moment I saw her sitting behind my desk. I don't think I've fantasized about hurting a person as much as I have for that woman." Oliver sighs closing his eyes once again. "How are you feeling?" Katie opened her mouth to reply. "And please use a word besides fine."

"Alright, I'm splendid." Katie replied and Oliver looked over to her with a tired smile. "I took my night off and I'm ready to get back into the hero business. So what's the plan tonight, besides wait?"

"I have a meeting, or I should say the Arrow has been requested for a meeting." Oliver says with a slight shake of his head.

"With who?" Oliver seems to turn away from her, and Katie lifts a brow. "Oh, that's a look I don't like. Must be Laurel Lance." Oliver turned back to her and she just knew she was right. "She wants to talk about her father and the fact that he's still in jail because he's protecting you."

"I know."

"But you're going."

"Yes, is that a problem?" Oliver watched as she turned away as if in thought, and that always made him worry. He always knew where her thoughts went whenever the topic of he and Laurel came up and he hated that he put that image in her head. Katie turned back to him and placed a kiss to his lips.

"Absolutely not. You're a man of the people Mr. Queen, who am I to try to keep you all to myself." Katie replied as Oliver pulled her into his lap. "We are in a public domain of your mother's house."

"I know, but right now it's your turn to ask me what I need." Oliver said and Katie looked at him for a moment.

"I would, if I already didn't know what you needed Liver." Katie replied placing another kiss to his lips. "A shower." Oliver couldn't help but laugh. "You smell really bad." he only hugged her tighter, making her squeal in his arms.

That night, Katie paced behind Felicity who was trying her best to ignore her and pay attention to the power grid.

"He's not running off to have an affair." Felicity finally said and Katie stopped and looked over to her. "Laurel. Isn't that what your nervous pacing is about this time?"

"What? No!" Katie replied with a shake of her head. "Laurel Lance is the furthest thing from my mind."

"Well what's the closest thing on your mind?" Felicity asked and Katie continued pacing.

"Slade Wilson and the fact that I can't see him doing something and not knowing the ins and the outs of the plan." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "Have you had any luck opening that drive I gave you."

"Don't even mention that demon." Felicity groan and Katie looked over to the woman. "I have tried every string of code I can think of, which believe me is a lot and yet nothing even chips away at the lock. The only thing I get are these random letters that I've tried deciphering, but nothing."

"I could use a distraction, let me look." Katie says sitting at the computer beside Felicity.

"At this point I'll try anything." Felicity replied handing the flash drive to Katie who plugged it into the computer. Soon the letters Felicity was talking about appeared on the screen and Katie's brow furrowed as she watched them move across the screen.

"G.C.D.E.E" Katie muttered when the letters disappeared and new letters appeared. "E.D.E.C.C." Katie eyes narrowed as the string of letters just kept alternating. She kept repeating the letter, something about them oddly familiar, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Alright." Felicity said and Katie looked over to her. "Apparently Laurel was called away, so we still have no idea why the call for the secret meeting."

"Is Oliver on his way back?" Katie asked and Felicity shook her head.

"He's supposed to be meeting with Thea." Felicity replied and Katie nodded remembering Oliver had told her that Thea agreed to meet him after the club closed.

"I don't know why he just won't let me talk to her." Katie muttered turning back to her own computer. "He's just gonna keep going back and forth on this."

"Well she did find out her father is Satan." Felicity replied and Katie chuckled. "Plus your heart to hearts can get pretty brash sometimes."

"Brash?"

"Your pep talks usually include the words suck it up, stop being a little bitch, and only babies cry so stop being a baby." Felicity replied and Katie sent the woman a glare. "It's why I don't train with you anymore."

"That's an exaggeration." Katie said looking back to the letters. "And I think you should know that I do know these letters from somewhere. I just—" she tilted her head to the side. "This is annoying that I can't remember this."

"Well when you do, please share." Felicity replied when she noticed something on her computer. "Uh Oh." the woman started typing furiously and Katie lifted her head.

"Someone consuming a very large amount of electricity?" Katie asked standing to her feet.

"Bingo." Felicity replied when she finally got the exact location. "I should call Oliver."

"Worst possible moment ever." Katie sighed looking at the screen. "Yeah, you have to call him, I am going to get changed." Katie turned and headed for her closet and opened it to find it empty. "Where—"

"Which means someone either plugged in the world's largest hair dryer, or the biotransfuser just went online. The power cycle on this machine is very specific. You have 30 minutes." Felicity said and Katie walked back over. Katie reached over and pressed the speaker button and began speaking.

"Oliver, are you sure you want to do this now? This moment with your sister, and dealing with your family is important."

_"Yeah, but if we don't stop Slade then it won't matter either way."_ Oliver replied.

"Fine, I will meet you—"

_"No, you're still out on this."_ Oliver interrupted and Katie groaned. _"Twinkie—"_

"I'm not interested in having the same argument Oliver." Katie sighed with a shake of her. "You think you can do this without me, then do it. I will be here with Felicity waiting."

_"You're upset—"_

"No, but I am deeming you a liar Mr. "I am stronger with my guardian." Katie said with a shake of her head.

_"That's not—"_

"Oliver, thirty minutes." Katie replied before reaching forward and ending the call. Katie glanced down to her watch before turning and walking over to grab her jacket.

"You can't do that. Lie and then do it anyway. That messes with the dynamic of the team." Felicity says swiveling her chair to face the woman. "Then there's this big Twiver verbal warfare and the rest of us get caught in the cross hairs, just please, think of the children."

"What children?"

"I don't know." Felicity sighs turning back to her computer. "I'm working with twenty four hours of no sleep."

"Do you need coffee?" Katie asked.

"I would love coffee, but none of the stuff they serve here." Felicity muttered.

"Then I will run over to Java Square, I think they're still open." Katie says backing away toward the door.

"Twiver warfare!" Felicity called to the woman's retreating form. "He doesn't want you near Slade, in case things go south tonight."

"Good thing I'm not going to be near Slade!" Katie called before exiting out the back of the basement. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed a number and brought it to her ear. "Hey, it's me. Where's Thea right now?."

Katie stood outside Big Belly Burger where she could see Thea sitting alone in one of the booths. She smiled before walking inside, heading over and sitting across from the woman. Thea glanced up a bit surprised to see Katie and it showed all over her face.

"What—" she glanced around the restaurant expecting to see her brother, but he wasn't there." What are you doing here? "

"I'm here to see you." Katie says and Thea sighs sitting back in her seat. "We need to talk."

"How did you even find me?"

"Maybe there's a hired security guard whose job it is to make sure you're not left unprotected again." Katie said with a shrug. "At least until they find the crazy man who took you." Katie sighed shaking her head. "Look, we really need to talk about—"

"About this contract my brother and mother want me to sign so badly to save the company that only needs saving because of them." Thea stated with a shake of her head when her food finally arrived, which consisted of french fries covered in cheese. "Thanks."

"Did you need anything?" the waitress asked to Katie, who shook her head. The woman simply nodded before walking from the table.

"Thea I can't even imagine what's going through your head right now—"

"Really, cause I'll tell you. I don't trust any of you, because you all found it so easy to lie about something so big." Thea shook her head before grabbing her purse about to leave. "And you're supposed to be my family." Thea stood to her feet and headed out the door. Katie pulled some cash from her pocket and put it on the table before following the woman out the door.

"Thea wait!" Katie called practically chasing the woman down the street. Thea didn't stop, and so when Katie finally got close enough, she grabbed the woman's arm. "Thea Queen, will you stop."

"Let me go!" Thea snapped pulling her arm away.

"We can't do that." Katie said said with a shake of her head. "You know what you're being a real brat right now."

"Excuse me!"

"C'mon Thea, I get this was big, but you have to see this from all sides. No one kept this from you to hurt you or to torture you. We kept this from you in an attempt to prevent this moment."

"You know I don't expect you to understand. You know who both your parents are, no one has lied to you about them." Thea said before turning and stalking off.

"One would think!" Katie called after her and Thea stopped and looked back to her. "You're not the only one dealing with the secrets of your parents, but at least you still have one around. I have no one to ignore and be a bitch to." and with that Katie turned and stalked off down the street, unable to agree with a Felicity that maybe she is a little too brash with her heart to hearts.

Katie walked, immediately feeling guilty after a while. She sighed when her phone rang and she glanced down to see that it was Felicity.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way back Smoaks." Katie says walking to the curb and looking out for a taxi.

_"Well you need to hurry!"_ Felicity spoke frantically._ "Oliver found Slade, and guess what he wasn't the source of the transfusion."_

"Who else could—" Katie's heart dropped the moment it hit her. "Roy, is he—"

_"Unconscious, weak pulse, loss of a lot of blood. Yes, yes and yes, they're bringing him here and you need to be here when they do."_ Felicity replied.

"I'm—" Katie closed her eyes, a million and one things going through her mind. "He's going to need blood."

_"We have blood."_

"Yeah, O neg, but he'll do better with his blood type." Katie says finally flagging down a cab.

_"I don't know his blood type."_

"I do." Katie replied stepping inside of the cab. "I know all of your blood types. Give me thirty minutes. If they get him there before me, hook him up to the blood right away and monitor his pulse."

_"Where are you going?"_ Felicity asked.

"I'm going to need more supplies." Katie replies before hanging up and leaning forward toward the drive. "Glades Memorial Hospital please, and if you can get me there in five minutes, I'll give you triple the fare."

The driver got Katie there in exactly five minutes and to her word Katie wrote the man a check before climbing out of the car and rushing inside of the hospital. The place was unbelievably quiet, which she was glad of. She walked over to the desk to find only one person there, with his head in his arms asleep.

"Ethan, wake up!" Katie says flicking the back of the man's head. He jolted awake, blinking rapidly as he looked up to Katie.

"I'm still dreaming aren't I?" he said looking to Katie with narrowed eyes. "Wait, why do you have clothes on?" Katie rolled her eyes before hitting him again. "Ow!" he stood to his feet. "You're real."

"Yeah, and I don't have much time." Katie says walking around the station and grabbing the man's arm and pulling her with him. "I need your help."

"After abandoning me, you really expect me to help you?" Ethan says pulling his arm from the woman. "I don't think so, you're not that hot."

"Ethan, this is so serious right now, I wouldn't ask if I really didn't need your help." Katie pleaded and Ethan groaned, because even after all this time she still had him in her hands like putty.

"Fine, what do you need?"

"It's kind of illegal, well it's totally illegal." Katie replied nervously and the man looked at her with a quirked brow. " Which I figured you wouldn't mind much since you're the ring leader of poker Fridays in the doctor's lounge."

"How illegal we talking?"

"I may need a few liters of blood, a heart monitor and your pedophile van." Katie said and the man shook his head about to walk away. "Ethan, please, I just—"

"I'm coming with you." the man said and Katie shook her head.

"No, you're—"

"You come here wanting me to risk my career and possible jail time, then I'm going to figure out why." Ethan replies walking away to grab his things. "My shift just ended and my night is entirely open."

"Ethan!" Katie called following after him hoping to talk him out of this.

Everything moved so quickly as Oliver carried Roy into the basement, lying him on the table in the middle of the room.

"Where is Katie!" Oliver growled not liking how pale the man looked on the table.

"I called her, she says she's getting supplies and for us to get him hooked up to the blood we have on hand." Felicity said looking over to John who was already moving. Oliver stood there for a few moments, before pulling the hood off his head, and going to get changed.

"What supplies Felicity?!" Oliver called pulling on his t shirt and Felicity turned to him with a shrug of her shoulders.

"She didn't say, just—" suddenly the door to the basement open and in rushed Katie who was carrying a big blue bag, which she sat on the floor. "There she is."

  
"Katie, where—" Oliver's words stopped when the door to the basement opened again, and in rushed someone he didn't expect to see, rolling in a heart monitor. "Ethan?"

"Oliver." the man said with a nod, trying not to even think about how bizarre this moment was. He followed behind Katie, everyone backing out of the way as the two doctors seemed to work. The others seemed to congregate off to the side as they watched Katie and Ethan moving around Roy's body effortless without even bumping into each other. It was clear that the pair had did this many times before.

Soon, both doctors stopped and just looked down the man, and glanced over to the monitor that showed his heart rate.

"So you want to tell me now what's going on?" Ethan asked looking over to Katie.

"Great idea!" Oliver barked angrily walking over to Katie and she shook her head because the tone in the man's voice spoke volumes. "What is he doing here?!"

"Helping." Katie replied simply glancing over to Ethan. "Roy needed more medical supplies than we have here."

"Which we could've gotten—"

"Not in the time we needed to make sure he stayed alive. This was the only option and the only way Ethan was going to help me was if he knew why." Katie replied glancing over to the doctor who just stared at Oliver. "I trust him—"

"It's not your call who to bring here!" Oliver snapped angrily and Katie let out a deep breath. "This is serious, these are peoples lives and if he decides to—"

"What, tell the world?" Ethan said suddenly and they all looked over to him. "Why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you do that?" Oliver asked and the man looked over to Katie.

"Because she believes I won't and when people have that much faith in you, you try your hardest to live up to it." Ethan replies glancing over to the others before looking back to Oliver. "You may not trust me and fine, we haven't known each other well enough for that to happen, but trust her—" Ethan glances over to Katie. "Me and that woman have been elbows deep in intestines together and that sort of thing is what trust is built from." Katie looked at the man with a confused quirk of her brow. "That sounded better in my head." the man shook his head before looking over to Roy. "Plus this guy's my patient now, and I'm all for patient confidentiality and all that crap." and with that the man grabbed his stethoscope and walked over to listen to Roy's heart. The others gathered around in hopes the man would tell them what was happening. Oliver chose to grab Katie's arm and pull her across the room, away from the others.

"Liver, if you brought me over her to yell at me some more you can save your breath. Time was of the essence, and decisions needed to be made in a hurry. Ethan was my only option and if this goes bad on us, then I will take all the blame, but right now please trust me." Katie says, taking a deep breath after the speech. Oliver sighed looking over to where Ethan stood speaking to the others. He really didn't know much about the man, other than his slight crush on Katie. "Do you trust me?" Katie rarely asked that question, unsure if she would like the answer or not. Oliver's hands slid around her back and pulled her closer. Katie's hands lifted to rest on Oliver's chest and a deep sigh escaped his lips. "Slade?"

"Got away, but Isabel is dead." Oliver replied, and Katie turned away. A part of her was relieved at the news, but she knew it wasn't over. She turned back to Oliver with a nod.

"So then it's time for a new tactic." Katie says dropping her eyes from Oliver, and he could practically see the wheels moving in her head. "We've been letting him keep the ball, it's time for us to bring it back to our court." she looks back to Oliver. "It's time we've knocked him off his game."

"You're right." Oliver says before pulling away, and walking across the room. Katie turns in confusion, watching as Oliver walks over to a drawer and pulls something out.

"What's that?" Felicity asked, everyone now looking over to the man.

"Mirakuru." Oliver stated and everyone's eyes widened.

"Mira-what-what?" Ethan asked, but everyone just ignored him.

"Where did you—" Katie walked over and stopped looking at the vile of green liquid in Oliver's hand. "You weren't thinking of taking it, were you?"

"What? No, we're going to use it to make a cure." Oliver stated looking over to the others.

"Oliver we don't even know if the effects can be reversed." Felicity countered glancing over to Roy with a slight shake of her head.

"Yes we do." Oliver sighed and they all looked stared unsure what the man meant.

"I think you mean you do." Katie replied walking a bit closer. "I think you may know more about this then we do."

"Ivo created a cure." Oliver said.

"Oliver, why—why didn't you tell us this before?" John demanded and Oliver turned away.

"Because I was ashamed." he admitted.

"Of what?" John asked and Oliver's eyes looked over to Sara, who gave a slight nod. Katie watched the exchange, once again realizing that there would always be that connection between Oliver and Sara that she may never understand.

"Five years ago, I had the chance to use the cure on Slade. I chose to kill him." Oliver revealed, much to everyone's surprise. "Everything that's happening right now is my fault." The room fell silent for a few moments as everyone wrapped their heads around the new information.

"Maybe it is, or maybe we're in the middle of a series of fucked up events." Katie said and everyone looked at her, but she just kept her eyes on Oliver. "It doesn't change what needs to happen now. How do we create this cure?" she looked over to the others for any suggestions.

"Cisco and Caitlin!" Felicity stated quite loudly. Everyone looked at her waiting for her to actually explain herself. "They're lab techs over at STAR Labs, maybe I can see if they can help with a cure."

"Alright." Katie says looking over to Ethan who still looked unbelievably confused. "Ethan—"

"Wait, is this Mira-what-what, the reason this kid isn't waking up?" Ethan asked and Katie nodded, before the man turned and walked over to Roy, grabbing a syringe on the way.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked.

"I need to have his blood analyzed, see how fast the poison is spreading, and the effects it's having on him internally." Ethan replied before grabbing his bag and heading for the door, but Oliver moved to block him. "Yes?"

"I don't trust you, but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt because Katie does, but if this bites us in the ass—"

"There was a fire a couple of blocks down on Howell, maybe a couple of months ago. Everyone got out, everyone except the woman on the fourth floor who wasn't going anywhere without her annoying Chihuahua. Then the Arrow showed up, went in and carried the woman on his back and carried the dog in his hood. That woman was my mother." Oliver looked surprised, because he does remember that fire, and that dog that peed on him. "I believe in what you're doing man, I'm not here to mess it up." he glanced back to Katie. "Plus I have no doubt my girl would murder me if I even thought about breaking her trust." Ethan gave the woman a smile before turning back to Oliver, and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry dude, I'm totally good at keeping secrets." and with that the man walked around Oliver toward the door.

"Make sure you're keeping the test very low key!" Katie called after him, only for Ethan to just wave her off.

"Not my first rodeo Kit Kat!" the man called before finally leaving.

Once he was gone, the room once again went silent, but only for a few moments. Soon Felicity, rushed off to catch the techs over at Star Labs, Sara left after finding out about her father's sudden release, and John left to shower and change. Only Oliver and Katie were left, both finding themselves watching Roy's still form. Katie was attaching another liter of blood, glad of the color that was coming to the man's skin. She glanced over to Oliver who leaned against a nearby table, staring down to Roy.

"He's getting better." Katie spoke suddenly. "His heart rate is getting back to normal, and he's starting to look less and less like a corpse." Oliver still didn't say anything. "You should go." he glanced over to her. "Find your sister, talk to her."

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"So, you're her brother and you love her. You don't care if she wants to hear you or not, but you talk because you're family." Katie shrugged. "That's what family does." she looks back down to Roy, and runs a hand over his head. "Me and Mr. Harper here will be just fine."

"I'm not too fond of the idea of leaving you here alone." Oliver says walking over to her. "Slade's has already—"

"Yeah, I know." Katie says before placing a kiss to Oliver's lips. "John probably won't be gone long, and I'm sure Sara will be back soon, and then there's you who can't go too many hours without being in my presence." Oliver smiled placing another kiss to her lips, before pulling back, only for Katie to hold on to him firmly.

"Where is the Guardian's Suit?" Katie asked and Oliver sighed.

"Some place safe." He replied, only for Katie to pinch his side. "Ow, hey, it's in the chest on the combat mat."

"Thank you, now you can leave." Katie said, finally letting the man go.

"Call me if there's any change with him." Oliver said grabbing his jacket. “And I'll text John to see if he'll head straight here.”

"Because I'm so helpless here by myself." Katie deadpanned with a shake of her head.

"Better safe than sorry." Oliver countered and Katie just waved him off. "Plus right now I don't think I could even handle if something happened to you because of me."

"I know, I'm the light of your life." Katie replied walking over to the man. "Now go and come back. I'll be here waiting for you." Oliver nodded, before pressing a final kiss to her lips before turning and finally leaving.

Katie stood there for a moment before turning to Roy with a soft smile.

"I guess it's just you and me Roy. For a little while anyway." she walked over and took the man's hand in her. "I'm sorry we didn't go looking for you." she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Don't worry, I won't make that mistake again." Katie sighed, about to walk over to grab a bottle of water, before something hit her. "Light of your life." she turned looking at the computer. "Sunshine." she suddenly rushed over to the computer, plugging in the flash drive, and the familiar letters appeared. "These are musical notes." she watched the letters. "That stupid song dad made me practice after school." she watched the letters as they switched and an idea struck her. She reached forward and typed "You are my sunshine." Suddenly the screen changed, and folders appeared. Katie narrowed her eyes as she read them over, and then one caught her attention and so she clicked. "You have got to be kidding me. This can not be what I think it is." Katie read over the file, titled **_Personnel File: SLADE JOSEPH WILSON._** Katie skimmed the file, "New Zealand...Australian Secret Intelligence Service. What the hell is ASIS?" Katie continued scrolling when something stopped her. "Mission, search and rescue of Chinese ally Yao Fei." Katie leaned in closer at the signature of the person who assigned the mission, shocked because she recognized the signature. "Special Agent Jacob Robins." Katie sat back in her chair as the pieces fell into place. "Dad?" she stood to her feet and began pacing once again, trying to make sense of this new information. She suddenly stopped and looked over to Roy. "This is his fault, it's all his fault this is happening."

That night, on the other side of the city in a very small motel room sat a very exhausted reporter who at this point wasn’t even sure anymore what she was doing in this damn city. Lois brought her mug to her lips and sipped the horrible coffee, while she listened to the ringing phone at her ear. Soon the voice mail kicked in again and she sighed.

"Clark, don't get me wrong, you're a grown man capable of making your own decisions, and that means you don't have to check in with me everyday, but as your partner it's only common courtesy to give something more than two word text messages. Please call me so I'm not wondering if I should buy a single return flight ticket back to Metropolis." the woman shook her head before tossing her phone on the bed and looked back up to the wall that at this point was covered in photos and yellow post it notes. She stood to her feet and walked over to one photo, and shook her head. "What am I missing with you Dr. Robins?" there was a sudden knock at her door, and Lois quirked a brow before turning and walking over to the door. She reached inside of her purse and pulled out her gun, making sure to hold it firmly as she looked through the peep hole. There was a woman there, someone she'd never seen before "Can I help you?"

"Lois Lane." the woman spoke. "I think we should talk."

"And who are you?"

"I hear you've been asking questions about my agency." the woman replied and Lois quirked a brow before reaching forward and pulling open the door to see the sharply dressed woman, who stood tall.

"Who are you?"

"My name Special Agent Amanda Waller." the woman stated. "I'm with—"

"ARGUS." Lois whispered, in a bit of shock, her hand now gripping her gun.

"That's right. I'm here because I want to know how you even know we exist." Waller replied tilting her head slightly. "Who's your source?" Lois looked at the woman for a moment before gaining her composure and shook her head.

"No way I'm telling you that. But you being here, proves they were right, and I wonder what the American people are going to think about the super secret government agency that moves in the shadows making moves that aren't considered legal."

"Ms. Lane, I'm not sure you completely understand the position you've found yourself in." Amanda said taking a step forward, seemingly unbothered by the gun in the woman's hand. "You're a smart woman, a woman I'm sure General Lane is very proud of." Lois straightened, a dark look settling in her eyes at the mention of her father. "And I'm sure you want nothing to happen to him or that cousin of yours back home in Metropolis."

"You don't scare me." Lois declared and a smile came to Waller's lips.

"Then maybe you're not as smart as I thought." she replied before turning and walking off. Lois watched as the woman marched down the hall, turning down a corner out of sight. She stood there for a moment before slamming the door closed.

Amanda walked down the sidewalk toward toward her car, with her phone pressed to her ear.

"This is Waller, I'm going to need a dig team on Lois Lane. She wants to play this game, then I'll play with her." Amanda spoke when suddenly a car pulled up behind her SUV. "Call me when you got something." she ended the call and slipped her phone back into her purse. She glanced around to see if there was anyone else around, but there was no one but her and the mysterious car. The door suddenly pushed open and she figured she was supposed to get inside and because her curiosity at this point was piqued and she made sure her people were always close by to make a move in case something happened, she walked over and stepped inside.

The moment Amanda stepped inside of the car, she froze and all color drained from her face as she looked to the seat across from her to see the face of someone she never thought she would see again.

"You—you're—" she couldn't form coherent thoughts at the moment and then it suddenly clicked. "You're the source. How—I mean why, no, how—" she pointed still finding this moment hard to believe. "You bastard!"

"Good to see you too Amanda."

"Cut the crap Jacob, how the hell are you alive right now?!"


	22. The Moment

**Chapter 22**

**The Moment**

_"One of life's most painful moments _

_comes when we must admit that we didn't do our homework, _

_that we are not prepared."  
_

_-Merlin Olsen_

* * *

It was a moment Oliver wasn't sure he would ever find, and in all honesty he wasn't sure he was ready to find, and yet here he was. Sitting on a toilet seat, in one of the many large bathrooms of the Ritz Carlton. After the whole ordeal with Slade, Jeremy, and finding Roy practically dead, Oliver suggested staying at the hotel for a few days as sort of a vacation away from all the craziness. Granted it had been only two days, but Katie and Oliver seemed all too happy to focus on each other and nothing on the outside of the walls around them. Though it was the beginning of day three, where Oliver awakened first to the room illuminated by sunlight, with the woman lying beside him when it happened. He glanced over to her, and that's when it happened. The moment he admitted to himself that this is how he wanted to wake up every morning. He felt that feeling he thinks he's been waiting for and so he climbed out of bed and slipped into the bathroom where he now sat staring at the open ring box he thinks he's finally ready to use.

"Should I be worried about the amount of time you're spending in there!" Katie called and Oliver quickly stood to his feet. He glanced over to the door before looking back to the ring, with a smile coming to his lips before he grabbed the box and slipped it into his pocket. When he finally came out of the bathroom, he found her standing near the window, looking out at the rising sun, wearing nothing but his shirt.

"Don't tell me you have food poisoning, because I lied when I said I didn't eat some of your chicken when you were on the phone." Katie said and Oliver chuckled appearing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She sighed contently as his lips met her shoulder, moving to the crook of her neck. She turned around in his arms, leaning forward to bring her lips to his, and in a swift movement he lifted her up and brought her over to the bed, laying her down. They finally pulled apart when the need for air was too great. "So no food poisoning. "

"No." Oliver replied, his voice husky and filled with so much want. He laid there above her just staring into her eyes.

"What?" she finally asked, and yet Oliver continued to silently stare, which only annoyed her. "Seriously, what?"

"Why were you my friend?" Oliver seamlessly asked randomly,but to him it was a question he was dying to know the answer to. Katie looked at him, trying to determine if he was serious or not and from the look on his face, he was. "I was a jerk, which we've determined already, but you stayed, why?"

"I don't know." Katie replied seeing how important this answered seemed to be from the seriousness on the man's face. "I guess when you care about something, it takes a whole lot to make you walk away and for some reason you being a jackass just never did it." she reached up, placing a hand on the side of his face, a soft smile coming to her lips. "Maybe I had hope that we would end up right here." she let her thumb, fall to his bottom lips. "Why are you so interested in all of this now?"

"I don't know." Oliver replied once again meeting her lips with his. The kiss once again became heated and it seemed it would only lead to one place that neither would stop. Or at least that's what Katie thought until Oliver once again pulled back, leaving her breathless and confused.

"What?" she asked once again. And Oliver stared at her, the glint in her eyes, flush of her cheeks, her parted swollen lips and this was it. He knew without a doubt that this was the moment.

"Will—" suddenly his phone on the nightstand began vibrating and Katie glanced over, but Oliver just looked to her.

"Your phone is ringing." Katie replied turning back to the man.

"I know." he replied before leaning down to kiss her, hoping to distract her enough. He once again pulled back, this time only inches from her face. "Katie, will you—" suddenly Katie's phone began ringing and Oliver let out an annoyed groan as they turned to Katie's phone.

"Now my phone's ringing." Katie sighed before reaching over to grab her phone. She answered the phone before bringing it to her ear, falling back on the bed and looking up to Oliver. "What happened?" Her eyes widened when Felicity spoke. "We're on our way." Katie dropped the phone from her ear. "Roy attacked Felicity and John before running off."

"Of course." Oliver sighed already sitting up from the bed.

Soon they found themselves back in the basement of the club listening to Felicity and John recount the events for them.

"One minute he's comatose, the next, he's flipping over computer equipment." John said with a shake of his head as he remembered earlier events. "He was a lot more out of control than Slade was at your house."

"He looked like Roy, but he wasn't Roy." Felicity said, still clearly shaken. They all turned when they heard footsteps, only to find Sara walking over to them.

"Sorry I'm late." Sara replied glancing around at the other. "So Roy's gone, any idea where he would go?"

"I don't know, but we have to find him." Oliver replied turning and heading straight for the display case. Sara pulled off her jacket about to change as well, and both John and Felicity looked to Katie who still stood looking at the table.

"What are you thinking?" Felicity asked and Katie glanced over to her with a shake of her head.

"Trying to think like a Mirakuru induced Roy." Katie replied glancing back to Oliver and Sara who were now dawned in their gear. "I should come." Oliver glanced over to her. "The last time you even spoke to Roy, he blew up at you. If that memory is still fresh in his head, he could go automatically to attack mode."

"And we don't know if he wouldn't do that to someone he likes as well. I just think—"

"You two should drive around see if you spot him and me and John will check out his apartment, see if he went back there." Katie suggested looking over to John who didn't make any gesture of agreement or disagreement as he looked to Oliver. Katie turned back to him as well, ready to shoot down any excuse he would throw at her for why she shouldn't leave.

"Fine." Oliver said surprisingly as he glanced from Katie to John. "You find him, don't engage, call us." he looked back to Katie with a serious gaze. "Do not engage." Katie simply nodded before watching Oliver and Sara turn and head out the door. Once they were gone, she turned back to John and Felicity.

"At some point I hope I find out why he'd rather go out there with her, rather than me."

"You already know that answer to that question." John replied grabbing his jacket before checking the bullets in his gun.

"Right, he can't focus on being the Arrow when I'm around." Katie muttered with a shake of her head. "At some point he's going to have to get over that." she glanced over to the man before following him out of the lair.

Katie and John combed through Roy's place twice not finding any trace that the man had been there recently. They were walking out as John spoke to Oliver on the phone.

"We don't think he's been here." John spoke and Katie walked out toward the car, her eyes going down both ends of the street in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. "Alright." John ended the call before turning to Katie. "I guess a call came in about some guys getting attacked by some random guy in a red hoodie. Oliver and Sara are going to go check it out."

"He's not going to be there." Katie muttered with a shake of her head once again looking down the street. "Let me guess he wants us to head back to the club and wait for them."

"Katie—"

"It's fine John." Katie replied turning back to the man. "You should head back, I'm going to stop by GMH and see if Ethan has gotten anything from Roy's blood sample. If he's gotten this violent this fast, then maybe there's something different with the dosage Slade gave him, or maybe it's just an initial reaction and maybe it'll wear off soon." John looked unsure and Katie nudged her head toward the car. "You can stand there and over think this or you can drop me off." John sighed before walking around and getting into the car.

When Katie walked through the doors of the hospital, she was instantly struck with a familiar sensation. It was that same feeling she would get when she worked there. She always felt the need to jump in, and start helping and yet right now that wasn't possible because she made a decision.

"This is a surprise." a voice spoke and Katie turned to see a familiar red head.

"Becks." Katie greeted walking over to the woman. "It's been a while."

"Yes it has." Rebecca replied coldy, before glancing down to the chart in her hand. "Why are you here?"

"I was here to see Ethan, is he—"

"Kit Kat!" a voice called from down the hall, making Katie cringe as she turned to see the man walking toward her. "This is actually a unexpected surprise." the man glanced over to Rebecca and his smile dropped slightly. "Look at this, the band's back together again."

"I doubt that seeing as our doctor Robins here is too busy not doing anything with her life to actually be apart of the band." Rebecca replied before stalking off to check on her patient.

"If she only knew, right?" Ethan replied and Katie turned to him.

"Yeah, but she can't. No one can, and if you say something I will murder you." Katie replied poking the man in the chest. "Look did you run that blood work for Roy. He woke up today and now we think he's on a very violent tour around Starling."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Ethan said nudging his head toward the doctor's lounge. Katie followed him inside and watched as he scanned the room to make sure it was empty before pulling his phone from his pocket. "I was going to bring this by today, but since you're here." he handed her the phone, and Katie looked down to see the results.

"Shit." she muttered scrolling through the results.

"Yeah, his serotonin and dopamine are through the roof." Ethan replied moving to stand beside her "And the effects seem to be happening very quickly, working it's way through his system."

"So there's no chance of this stuff working it's way out of his system?" Katie asked glancing over to Ethan.

"Whatever this stuff is, it's strong and seemed to made to last long." Ethan replied with a shake of his head. "If this was intended to turn Roy into some crazed psychopath, then it's going to work and it's not going to stop working for a while, if ever." Katie turned back to the phone. "What are you thinking?"

"I hope we get that cure soon, because if we don't then there is going to have to be a decision made." Katie muttered before handing Ethan back his phone before heading for the door.

"What decision?" Ethan asked and Katie stopped and looking back to him, with somber eyes and that's when he had his answer. "Oh. Wait—" he took a step forward. "You guys would do that?"

"No, it would be considered, but I wouldn't let it happen." Katie replied honestly with a shake of her head. "We just have to hope Felicity's friends can create that cure."

"I was actually going to head out to Star labs to see if I could assists these dorks Felicity drafted." Ethan said and Katie nodded.

"Good, just don't call them dorks when you get there." Katie replied before turning heading down the hall. She always felt oddly at home here, and if she was completely honest she felt things here did make a little more sense. But she had to give it up for their own good.

When Katie stepped through the sliding door, she stopped when she saw who was standing there, seamlessly waiting for her.

"Isn't it kind of dangerous for you to be out here all by yourself?" came the annoying voice of Agent Amanda Waller.

"Funny." Katie said walking over to stand in front of her. "I was just about to ask you the same thing." Katie glanced around, with a shrug. "But then again, I'm sure you never leave your compound without a small army." she turned back to the woman. "Have you found my father?" Amanda turned away, pretending as if she were surveying the area. "Waller—"

"We shouldn't talk here." the woman said before raising a hand and gesturing for her car to come closer. The woman opened the door, and signaled for Katie to get it, but the doctor didn't move.

"If you seriously believe that I am going anywhere with you, then you are totally bat shit crazy." Katie stated with a shake of her head. "Have you found my father?"

"It's more complicated than anticipated, but if you would come with me—"

"When you find a way to uncomplicate it agent Waller, then we will talk, but until then I don't get in cars with psycho bitches, sorry." Katie replied just as the nearing engine of a motorcycle met their ears. Both women turned at the sudden sight of Oliver, who jumped from his bike and walked over to them.

"Agent Waller." Oliver spoke glancing over to the woman. "Why are you here?"

"Leaving apparently." The woman said glancing over to Katie, before stepping into her car and pulling off.

"Are you gonna yell at me?" Katie asked and Oliver glanced over to her.

"No. Let's go." he replied and Katie furrowed her brow, but followed behind him, climbing on the back of his bike, and wrapping her arms around him.

When they arrived back to the mansion, Katie slid from off the bike and Oliver did the same, before heading toward the house.

"What's going on with you?" Katie asked and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "There's something going on, I just don't know what it is."

"Well my friend is out there and he's a danger to himself and everyone he comes in contact with." Oliver said matter of factly. "Look, I'm tired and would love nothing more right now then to shower and go to bed." Katie stared at him for a moment, before nodding and following him inside. She didn't want to pester him, but she just couldn't knock the feeling that there was something more going on. He didn't argue with her about going with John, and he didn't argue about her going off to the hospital alone.

The next morning Oliver Queen was quiet. Katie watched him closely, the way he would silently stare at nothing as they sat in the kitchen.

"So the rally tonight." Katie spoke pulling Oliver's attention to her. "I figure we're going to have to make an appearance."

"Yeah." Oliver replied standing to his feet and walking over to place his mug in the sink.

"Ok, I don't like this." Katie replied standing as well and turning to him. "This person you're playing, who doesn't say what he's thinking, I don't like him."

"Twinkie, it's fine and I don't want to argue about this." Oliver replied, only for Katie to narrow her eyes at him.

"Fine, I won't push this, but I am watching you Liver." Katie replied and Oliver smiled as he walked over to her, bringing his arms around her waist. "You're being weird."

"According to you, I'm always weird." Oliver replied before bringing his lips to hers. "For right now, let's focus on finding Roy before he hurts someone."

Katie chose to go into the back of the club, while Oliver went through the front hoping to see his sister. It was part of his plan, even though she was still angry. He hoped her seeing that he wasn't going anywhere would help them get back to their relationship.

Felicity sat behind her computer, watching the facial recognition run it's course, as Katie paced behind her.

"You know at this point, I think I should tell you that the whole nervous pacing does not help the atmosphere in the room." Felicity said and Katie simply glanced in her direction. "What are you overthinking today?"

"Oliver is being weird." Katie replied and Felicity let out a snort.

"What, the guy who puts on a hood and shoots arrows at people is acting weird, I don't believe it." Felicity replied sarcastically.

"I'm being serious." Katie said dropping in the seat beside Felicity. "Yesterday with me telling him I was going with John, and no argument about how dangerous it will be if Slade showed up. Then there was him picking me up at the hospital and no riot act about venturing off alone."

"Maybe he's getting used to the idea of you being able to take care of yourself." Felicity replied with a shrug. "Maybe he's loosening the reigns a little?" the last part came out as a question, that even Felicity didn't seem to believe. "You're right, he is being weird."

"Right, it's like he's purposefully trying not to fight with me." Katie said once again standing to her feet and pacing again. "Which I know is crazy for me to even be upset about, it's just when we argue I know what he's thinking, but when he's biting his tongue when I know he wants to say something, I don't like that. I don't want him to not talk to me when there is something on his mind."

"Maybe he's starting to grow." Felicity suggested. "Healthy couples don't fight all the time."

"Healthy couples don't fight crime in their spare time." Katie countered to which Felicity nodded in agreement. Katie glanced over to see the map on Felicity's monitor, noting the spots marked on the screen. "Are those all the Roy sightings?"

"Yeah." Felicity replied as Katie moved a little closer to get a look. They heard the footsteps behind them and turned to see Oliver and Sara coming down the stairs.

"When did you get here?" Katie asked looking to Sara.

"Just now, I forgot the rally was today and didn't expect to see all the people here." Sara replied as she and Oliver walked over.

"You figure out where Roy could be?" Oliver asked as he and Sara saw the map as well.

"No, not yet. He seems to be staying in one area." Felicity replied turning back to the computer. "Verdant, 14th and Hobart, and the bar Sin spotted him at. He looks to be moving east."

"What's east?" Sara muttered. Katie glanced at the map, a sudden realization striking her, before looking over to Oliver.

"Queen Mansion." The both say at the same time.

"If he still remembers where Thea lives well, used to live, but Roy doesn't know that " Felicity said turning back to the others. "There might be something in Roy still left in there."

"Or it's just a coincidence that he's moving east." Sara replied, and Katie turned to the woman with a quirk brow at her coldness.

"I know that Sin's involved, but don't let that cloud your judgment." Oliver replied.

"Well, don't let the fact that this used to be Roy cloud yours." Sara countered.

"I'm sorry." Katie replied, seeming confused with this conversation. "You two are talking, but it's hard to follow." she glanced over to Sara who turned away. "Just so I'm clear, we're still in the people saving business, right?"

"Right." Oliver stated sending a dark glare to Sara, before looking back to Katie. "Don't worry, we're going to find Roy and we're going to get him the help he needs." Sara shook her head slightly, seeming to want to say something, but chooses to bite her tongue. Her phone suddenly rings, and she pulls it out to see a familiar number.

"Sin." she answered and the other watched her curiously." Well I thought I told you to go home." she listened some more. "I'm on my way." she ended the called and turned back to Oliver. "Roy's at the clock tower, we need to hurry before we miss him again." Oliver nodded as both he and Sara rushed off to change. Katie stood there for a moment, unsure what to do when Oliver suddenly stopped and turned to her.

"You should—"

"Stay here, with Felicity just in case this is another Slade trap." Katie said and Oliver simply nodded. "Alright, just bring Roy back, ok."

"Ok." Oliver replied a bit suspiciously, but didn't push the issue before he and Sara finished getting ready before heading out back. The moment they were gone, Katie stripped off her jacket before heading over to the closet.

"You're determined to have a fight aren't you?" Felicity asked watching the woman as she pulled her suit from the closet and began pulling it on.

"I'm also going because if things go bad, I want to be there." Katie replied, not liking how Sara seemed too ready to take out their friend. Once Katie was dawned in her hood, mask on her face, she walked around to the weapons hung along the wall.

"It's still weird when you stand there trying to decide your weapon of choice." Felicity muttered watching how focused Katie seemed on the wall. "Like how do you even decide?"

"Sometimes you just know." Katie replied going for a pair of glocks that hung against the wall. She placed them in their holsters at her side, before grabbing her knives and strapping them underneath her hood.  
Katie was glad that the clock tower wasn't too far from the club. It allowed her to filter about the glades at this hour in the shadows, without gaining too much attention about being dressed as some weird hero person. She was still on foot, which meant it still took her a while to actually get to the clock tower. When sh finally arrived she spotted Roy standing near a police car. As she got closer, her eyes widened at the two dead officers laying at his feet. He met her eyes and for just a moment he looked at her.

"Roy, I need you to listen to me." Katie says as she cautiously stepped toward the man. "I know you're still in there." she threw back her hood so he could see her face. "The guy who comes to my house and eats all my food." she put on a smile, hoping her words triggered something. She took another step, and heard a low growl escape his lips and so she stopped. "Roy look at me. You're stronger than the Mirakuru." his fists clenched at his sides. "Roy—" he let out another growl before turning and bolting down the street. "Shit Roy." Katie felt she had no choice but to follow.

Roy was ridiculously fast, and Katie soon realized she was going to have to do something to slow him down. Katie stopped before pulling free one of her smaller daggers, and quickly threw it at the man. It was dark, and she was sure she was barely aiming, but luckily she struck his leg. It only seemed to slow him down a bit as he reached down to pull it free, only to continue running. Katie growled, before picking up speed once again, this time going for something she hopes has the intended affects. She pulls free once her guns, and aims as best she can at the man who is still speeding down the street. Her fingers are about to pull the trigger when Roy suddenly turns down an alley.

Katie stops the moment he does, and walks over to the darkened alley. It doesn't have an opening at the end, so he she knows he's still in there. There isn't a glimmer of light anywhere, so Katie would be walking in there blind. It was that fact that Katie decided to actually close her eyes when she finally decided to walk in. It was this moment that Katie realized that Roy wasn't very good at hiding. She heard his rapid breaths, and so she turned her gun to him.

"Don't make me shoot you Roy." Katie said, her mind instantly flashing to standing in that living room and shooting her cousin. "I wouldn't be able to—" Roy suddenly ran at her, tackling her to the ground, knocking the gun from her hand. "Roy, please—" the man sent a hard punch to Katie's gut, and she screamed in pain when she heard something crack. Roy dropped his head down, so his lips were near her ear.

"Leave me alone." he growled so fiercely, that it actually sent a chill down her spine. He didn't wait for any acknowledgment before jumping to his feet and running. Katie's entire body felt like it was on fire as the pain seemed to radiate from her. Pain was never reason enough to quit. It was the demon's words that caused her to quickly grab her other gun that was attached to her hip and it's why she jumped to her feet and ran out of that alley as well. When she stepped back out to the streets, illuminated by the street light, she saw him walking quickly. His red hood over his head, with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey Roy!" she called and the man stopped walking and turned back to her just as she raised her gun and fired shot after shot at the man. One of the shots hit his knee, knocking him off his feet, and the moment it did, Katie ran over and swung the butt of her gun into the side of his head knocking him out.

The moment his body fell to the ground, Katie quickly knelt down grabbing his wrist making sure he still had a pulse. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt one. She was glad she remembered to change out the bullets for rock salt before finding him. The relief fleeted when she heard the sound of sirens. There was no way in hell she could let the police find him after killing those cops. So against all rationale, and the aches of her body, Katie grabbed Roy's feet and began pulling him, hoping to find some place to hide out for a while.

Doctor Ethan Mills was regretting staying up all night at STAR Labs assisting with creating this cure. This moment in particular, as he sat behind the nurses station barely able to keep his eyes open. He was glad that most of the patients were cleared out, giving him a bit of a break. His eyes were drifting closed when his cell phone suddenly rang, causing him to jolt awake. The number on the caller ID was unfamiliar, but Ethan was always interested in mystery callers and so he answered.

"Hello?"

_"Ethan, it's me."_

Ethan furrowed his brow because the woman on the phone did not sound like anyone he was familiar with.

"Me, who?"

_"Sara, Sara Lance, look we don't have time to play fifty questions. Oliver has been hurt and we need your help."_

"Where's Kit, I'm working graveyard."

_"Look I don't know where Katie is, but what I do know is that Oliver needs your help."_ Sara replied

"I still can't leave the hospital."

_"I know, that's why we're here."_ Sara said and Ethan quickly stood to his feet and walked around the station and instantly saw the black clothed woman standing at the end of the hall. He glanced around to make sure the coast was still clear before rushing over to the woman who lowered the phone from her ear.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Ethan asked and Sara just shook her head.

"Questions later." the woman said before turning and walking into a room Ethan assumed was empty, but now held Oliver who held his leg, grimacing in pain. "Help him now." Ethan sighed looking at Oliver for a moment, before walking over to him.

"Alright, lie back so I can see the damage."

"Sara—" Oliver started, but Ethan seemed to touch a particular painful spot, causing Oliver to hiss in pain.

"Sorry." Ethan muttered still examining Oliver's knee and Oliver simply glared at the man, before turning back to Sara.

"You have to find Katie, she—"

"She disappeared after we left." Sara replied with a shake of her head. "Felicity said she was behind us, figured she would help wrangle in Roy, but she must have lied or—"

"Or she didn't and she's with him right now." Oliver grit his teeth as Ethan's fingers continued to poke at his leg. "You need—ahh!" Oliver turned a darkened glare to Ethan once again. "Do you need to do that?"

"Well if you want me assess the damage, then yes." Ethan replied looking back up to the man. "And now to do that, I'm going to need to do an x-ray. Lucky for you we have a portable one that I can bring in here." Oliver simply nodded and awaited the man to go. "Which I will do once someone tells me what the plan is for finding Kit." Both Oliver and Sara looked to the man in confusion. "If Roy did this to you, then I don't even want to think about what he would do to her."

"I will have Felicity track her cell." Sara replied taking out her cell phone and dialing the number.

Ever since the Undertaking, the Glades were filled with abandoned, dilapidated buildings. With all the strength that she could muster, Katie dragged Roy into one of those buildings and tied him up with rope she'd found tossed aside in the building. She tied the ropes as tight as she could, without hurting the man. Once she was done, she walked over and dropped to the floor across from him, and just looked at the man whose head hung to his chest.

She untied her hood, and pulled the harness of knives from around her, letting it drop to the floor, before letting her hand slide across her stomach. Katie hissed in pain at the touch, knowing definitely that her ribs were broken.

"Fuck." she muttered before letting her hand slide to her pocket to retrieve her phone. She was sadly disappointed that she found nothing. "Fuck!"

Sara aimlessly walked around the area Felicity said she'd located Katie's phone signal. The only problem was, there was no Katie.

"Are you sure this is the right place." Sara asked into the comlink.

_"Yes, the GPS is signal is right on top of you."_ Felicity replied looking at the screen._ "She should be there."_

"She should, but she's—" Sara stopped when she saw something lying on the sidewalk. She walked over to see that it was indeed a cell phone. "Shit."

_"What is it? Did you find her?"_

"No." Sara said looking down to the cracked screen of Katie's phone. "Just her phone." she glanced up and looked down both ends of the street, hoping to see some clue as to where Katie could've gone. "Oliver's not going to like this."

_"Sara, this location is just a couple of blocks down from where you guys found Roy."_ Felicity stated and Sara sighed as she headed back over to her bike._ "What if she ran into Roy and—"_

"Felicity she's smart, if she ran into Roy she wouldn't engage him." Sara said stopping right in front of her bike and rethinking that statement. "Shit, actually she would, wouldn't she?"

_"Yeah, she would."_ Felicity replied.

"I'm going to drive around, see if I can find any clues as to what happened to her."

_"I'll call Oliver, let him know what's what."_ Felicity sighed. _"Definitely not a conversation I'm looking forward to._

"Good luck."

Oliver lied on the semi comfortable hospital bed waiting for Ethan to return with the scans from the xray. He was glad the man had given him some clothes he had in his locker, just in case someone wandered in. Oliver took them gratefully because he too agreed that someone coming in and seeing the Arrow would probably not be a good thing.

He gripped his cell phone in his hand, waiting for a call from someone to tell him that Katie was ok. He hated not knowing where she was, because it only fueled his fear that his worst nightmare was happening. That Slade somehow found her and had her.

"Alright, buddy, the results are in." Ethan said walking into the room with Oliver's scans. "The good news is there isn't much damage to the bone and most of the pain is chronic." Ethan held up the xray so Oliver could see. "I could give you a brace, but it's still going to hurt like hell." he looked back to Oliver who dropped back on the bed, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh. "Any word on Katie?"

"Not yet." Oliver muttered in annoyance. Less with the man and more with the fact that no one had even called him.

"Alright, I'll get that brace and some pain meds." Ethan says sliding the xray back into it's folder. "And if Sara's not back, I'll give you a ride back to the super secret hero lair." Oliver looked over to him with a quirked.

"We don't ever call it that." Oliver replied and Ethan just shrugged.

"You should, it sounds so much cooler then club basement." Ethan replied with a shake of his head before leaving. The moment he was gone, Oliver looked down to his phone and groaned before pressing a familiar number and bringing the phone to his ear.

_"I know what you're about to say."_ Came Felicity's voice, bypassing her greeting. "_You were right, I was wrong, but I still don't agree with what you did."_

"I did it for this exact reason. Felicity tell me where she is." Oliver ordered and the woman let out a annoyed breath.

_"She's not far from where you guys found Roy. Seems to be in the westside, that's still pretty messed up from the Undertaking. Do you want to call Sara back?"_

"No, I'm going." Oliver replied sitting up from the bed.

_"You can barely walk after going a round with Roy, you really think you're in any shape to save anyone?"_

"Probably not, but it's her and for her it doesn't matter what kind of shape I'm in." Oliver replied ending the called, just as Ethan walked back in with the brace. "Change of plans, we're going to have to make a bit of a detour before heading back to the club."

Katie's eyes were heavy from exhaustion. She wasn't sure what to do since she didn't have her phone to call for backup. She knew leaving would be risky, and staying didn't do much of anything. Her eyes opened a bit wider when she heard a groan from the man across from her. She watched him closely as he seemed to be aware of what was happening to him, his eyes looking down to the rope that bound him, pulling at it trying to get free.

"Roy." she spoke and the man's darkened eyes looked across to her. The room was dark, but there was some light from a street lamp filtering and she could see his face. See the person sitting across from her wasn't her friend. "Roy it's me, Katie." he growled once again, and she could see him starting to pull from the ropes. "I know you're in there Roy, I know that some crazy bastard just can't inject poison in you and take you away." it was as if he just couldn't hear her, because he only continued pulling at the rope and Katie's head shot up when she heard them cracking. "Roy, don't do this. Let me help you." he still didn't listen, and Katie watched as the ropes slowly began to snap apart. She figure at this point she should stand and against the protests of her aching body she pushed herself to her feet, cradling her stomach as she backs way from the man who is suddenly free. His darkened eyes look in her direction as he stands to his feet. "I don't care what you do Roy. I'm not going to run away. I'm not going to stop trying to save you." he looked at her and growled taking a slight step forward. Katie thought he was going to attack, but instead he turned and ran out of there. She was about to run after her, but the odd way she turned seemed to put too much pressure on her ribs, and the pain shot through her entire body causing her to fall to the floor in pain.

Katie ended up on her back on the floor of this dark, abandoned building not even wanting to move. She felt a warm tear trickle down her cheek. It was a single tear, and yet in that one tear seemed to be the hell ravaging at Katie's insides. She turned her head at the sound of distant voices. Soon there were heavy footsteps as well getting near. Her instincts told her to push herself up and hide, in case Roy was returning to hurt her, but she couldn't move.

"Katie!" a familiar voice called and Katie let out heavy breath.

"Liver!" she called back, even though it hurt like hell to do.

"Katie, where—" Oliver stopped when he spotted the figure lying on the floor. He ignored the pain in his legs as he quickly limped over to her, dropping to his knees. He noticed her hand on her stomach and went to check it out, but stopped as she hissed in pain. "What happened?"

"Roy." Katie said. "Did you see him, he just ran out."

"No, we must have missed him." Oliver replied. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah." Katie replied taking Oliver's hand and letting the man help her to her to her feet. She brought her weight mostly on him, but stopped when she heard him hiss in pain. "What happened to you?"

"It's my knee, but I'm fine." Oliver replied trying to pull her back so he could help her walk.

"You're not—"

"Oliver!" a voice called and both of them turned back to the door. "Did you—" suddenly Katie saw Ethan and she wasn't sure why. "Good you found her." Ethan walked over to Katie noticing her cradling her stomach. "What's the damage?"

"Cracked ribs." Katie replied looking over to the man. "Why are you here?"

"I gave Oliver a ride."

"And you were supposed to stay in the car." Oliver growled in annoyance.

"Well I'm here now, and you're not going to help her, you can't put too much weight on your leg." Ethan said before walking around and hoisting Katie into his arms, bridal style. "C'mon." Oliver growled under his breath, but quickly limped to follow.

When they returned back to the lair, Ethan chose to focus on wrapping Katie's ribs while Oliver tended to applying his herbs to his knee. He offered them to Ethan, but the man just waved his voodoo herbs away.

"Ethan." Katie muttered once everyone else was out of ear shot. The man turned to her with a slight smile. "You're treading on very dangerous water."

"What?"

"You—"

"Ethan!" Oliver called and both Katie and Ethan looked over to him. "We need to talk."

"Can it wait, I was just—"

"It can't wait." Oliver said firmly enough to let the man know he was serious. "Sara can finish that."

"No offense to you or Ms. Lance, but properly securing ribs—"

"Ethan, outside now!" Oliver snapped limping toward the back door. Ethan quirked a brow turning back to Katie.

"Should I be worried?" he muttered.

"Yeah that whole problem with following rules you have, probably won't fly here." Katie said giving the man a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, he's going to yell, probably threaten you, but nothing will happen. All you have to do is stay silent, nod in agreement and don't say anything stupid."

"Alright." Ethan said with a nod, but there was a slight smirk on his face that worried Katie.

"I'm serious, we have enough problems."

"I get it." Ethan said with a nod as he headed toward the back door.

"Your friend is getting on the bad side of a man with a bad temper." Sara said walking over to continued wrapping Katie's ribs. "Which I thought you would be after the stunt you pulled tonight." The woman turned to meet Katie's eyes. "It was stupid going out there alone."

"Yeah, but—"

"There are no buts, it was stupid. Roy could've killed you." Sara replied when she finished and took a slight step back. "At some point you and Oliver are going to have to come to some agreement about how this team actually works. Because he seems to think you're safe staying put, but he doesn't seem to know that you will do anything but stay put and right now we all need to be on the same page when it comes to handling our Roy situation."

"I think you have a pretty good idea about how we should handle our Roy situation, which is why I showed up tonight. " Katie said grimacing as she slid off the table. "Roy isn't going to die, not by anyone on this team." Katie walked over to grab her shirt, but Sara didn't seem ready to end this conversation.

"You don't get it." Sara countered and Katie turned back to her. "You weren't there. You didn't see what this Mirakuru can do, how it can turn people into monsters."

"You're right, I wasn't there, but I'm here right now." Katie says slipping on her shirt and buttoning it. "Roy is not a monster—"

"He—"

"He hasn't done anything we haven't done!" Katie snapped angrily, but dropped her head and letting out a deep breath. "At some point in our lives Sara—" she looked back up to the woman. "We were considered monsters, things that needed to be put down, and yet here we are."

"You're like him." Sara grumbled glancing over to the door, referring to Oliver. "Everyone can't be saved, at some point both of you have to realize that."

"The moment we come to that conclusion is the day I think team Robins will be no more." Katie says walking over to stand behind Felicity. "So have you found anything?"

"Traffic cams can't get a clear shot." Felicity replied still focused on her monitor. "Now I see why you guys wear them." They both turned when they heard footsteps, to see Sara headed over to the weapons, grabbing a gun.

"What are you doing?" Katie asked taking a careful step forward.

"What needs to be done." Sara replied tucking the gun in her waistband. "You all want to be blind to what Roy has become, fine, but I won't let him hurt anyone else." and with that the woman turned and headed for the steps.

"Should we stop her?" Felicity asked.

"Don't worry, I won't let her hurt him." Katie said glancing over to the back door and sighing. "Ok, I'm giving them five more minutes."

Ethan had lots of experience with being reamed by authority figures. He'd actually gotten pretty good at disconnecting from the moment which Oliver didn't notice at first until Ethan muttered something.

"What?" Oliver asked and Ethan just shook his head.

"Nothing, I just couldn't remember if I set my DVR for American Idol." Ethan said and if it was even possible, Oliver's eyes darkened as he took a step toward the man. "Hey, chill—"

"Don't tell me to chill!" Oliver snapped angrily. "This team, those people in there, they are my responsibility and for some twisted reason that I can't even explain, you have become one of those people. So Ethan when I say things like stay in the car, I fully expect you to stay in the car."

"Fine, whatever." Ethan said about to walk around Oliver to go back inside, but Oliver moved to block him. "What are you doing?"

"You're no longer needed tonight Ethan." Oliver said ignoring the man's glare. "You should just head home." Oliver turned and headed for the door. "Maybe you could still catch American Idol."

When Oliver walked back inside, he looked over to Katie who was now standing beside Felicity.

"Please tell me he's still alive." Katie said walking over to the man.

"He's alive, and on his way home." Oliver replied and Katie sighed stopping in front of him. "What he did tonight was stupid and it could've gotten him killed."

"Just like I was, right?" Katie asked and Oliver shook his head and simply walked over to Felicity much to Katie's confusion.

"Felicity, did you bring them?" Oliver asked and the woman stood to her feet and grabbed the two garment bags that were hanging on the wall. She handed one to Oliver and the other to Katie.

"What's this?" she asked looking from Felicity to Oliver.

"The rally." Oliver said limping over toward the bathroom. "We still have to go." That was all he said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

"You can't tell me that wasn't weird." Katie said turning to Felicity. "He hasn't said one word about what I did."

"He is being kind of odd." Felicity replied with a shrug as she turned and walked back over to her computer. "Maybe he just doesn't want to fight with you. Maybe he wants to keep the air clear between you two."

"Ok, but why?"

"I don't know, maybe he—" Felicity stopped talking when a sudden thought struck her and her's eyes widen. A small smile came to her lips that she's glad Katie didn't see.

"Maybe he what Felicity?"

"He's a weird guy." Felicity replied clearing the smile from her face before turning to Katie. "Your boyfriend is just weird, accept it." Katie simply rolled her eyes before turning back to the bathroom door with narrowed eyes.

Soon Katie found herself in yet another uncomfortable position today. This one had her standing among a crowd of people, barely holding herself up against the bar. She held a glass of champagne, but sat it down not even wanting to tempt a Drunk Twinkie sighting tonight. Katie waited in the club while Oliver was upstairs speaking with his mother. She grimaced as she attempted climbing onto the bar stool, the move not helping her ribs. Suddenly there were hands on her waist, helping her onto the stool. She turned to see someone she didn't expect to see for a while.

"What are you still doing here Bruce?" Katie asked and the man sighed.

"You know I expect that question from everyone, except you Robins." The man said looking the woman over. "You look like crap, what happened?"

"Well I feel like crap." Katie muttered. "Slade's latest shit storm, includes shooting Roy up with more Mirakuru and using him to siphon it to his new super soldiers. I tried talking to Roy—"

"Alone?" Bruce asked and Katie rolled her eyes. "You went looking for some juiced up crazy Roy alone."

"I know it was stupid, I just thought—"

"What that if you talked to him, just let him hear your voice that he'd magically come back?" Bruce asked with a shake of his head. "That's far fetched even for you."

"Because only men can handle such things without back up." Katie muttered turning back out to the crowd. "I held my own, and I think I may have gotten through to him. I mean he could've killed me, but he didn't."

"Maybe he had better things to do." Bruce said, his eyes now searching the crowd as well. Katie glanced over to him and sighed.

"She's downstairs keeping an eye out for any word on Roy." Katie said, making a guess at who the man was looking for. "Bruce—"

"I need to talk to Martin." Bruce interrupted as he turned to her. "Wherever he is, I need you to tell me where he is."

"That's going to be hard since I don't even know where he is." Katie replied with a shrug. " I sort of teamed up with a mutual friend who seemed just as intent as I was to find my father."

"Mutual friend?"

"Patriotic guy with a thing for spandex." Katie replied and Bruce's brow furrowed before turning away. "What's going on, what aren't you telling me?"

"I'm not completely sure, but if what I think is happening, is really happening, then it's nothing good." Bruce said glancing over to see Oliver headed toward them, he noticed the limp in his step. "Looks like I missed one hell of a fight. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Oliver replied his voice tight as he glanced over to Katie before turning back to Bruce. "So have you moved to Starling or something?"

"Not yet." Bruce replied with a smirk. "I understand you're busy wrangling in Roy, if you need any help—"

"We don't." Oliver cut him off and Bruce simply nodded.

"Fine, well when you're done, you should probably find me." Bruce replied giving Oliver a look he hoped he understood. Oliver seemed to understand completely and gave the man a nod, before watching Bruce turn and disappear into the crowd.

"What was that about?" Katie asked unsure what the exchange of glances were about. Oliver turned to her with a shake of his head.

"Nothing." he said placing a gentle hand on her side. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." Katie replied with a small smile as a man with a camera walked over. Oliver automatically moved in closer to Katie, wrapping an arm around her carefully as they both smiled smiles that were totally and completely fake. Once the man had taken his picture, he went back out into the crowd. "How did your talk go with your mom."

"Interesting." Oliver said and Katie turned to him expecting more. "I'll tell you about it later." he sighed as his eyes scanned over the crowd. "So did you get any indication of where Roy could be headed?"

"No." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "It was strange. I looked in his eyes and it's like it just wasn't him." she glanced back to Oliver. "Can Mirakuru really just take someone away like that?" Oliver wasn't sure how to answer that. "As I was reminded by Sara, I don't really know about it. I wasn't there on the island to see it first hand." she shook her head before looking back out to the crowd as well. "Maybe she's right. Maybe what I did was stupid and—"

"What you did was stupid." Oliver replied, his voice having not a single hit of anger or frustration. It was actually freakishly calm, which is why Katie turned her eyes back to him and he turned to her meeting her eyes. "It was dangerous, and reckless, and probably a couple of more words that mean the same thing."

"But..." Katie said and a small smirk came to the man's face.

"But this was Roy, and he is your friend, and me telling you that you couldn't help him wasn't fair." Oliver replied and Katie quirked a brow as he spoke. "Plus at this point I'm starting to realize that when I ask you to do something, you usually do the opposite."

"It's actually when you tell me to do something, I usually do what I think is right." Katie replied with a shrug. "The thing is, we were good. We were finding out how you and I worked as the guy with the hood and the girl with the knives and then Slade showed up—"

"And then Slade showed up and I got scared that I was going to lose you again." Oliver interrupted leaning in closer to the woman. "I'm sorry I can't just be alright with just letting you do this, but—"

"We're about to start." a voice spoke suddenly and they both turned to see Mark, Moira's campaign manager. "You should get ready." the man seemed agitated, but simply rushed off.

"What's with him?" Katie asked turning back to Oliver.

"My mother is dropping out of the race." Oliver said and Katie looked at him with wide eyes.

"Seriously, why?"

"She says she should've done this a while ago after Thea's abduction. She wants to focus on repairing that relationship, I tried to get through to her, but I don't know what she's going to do when she gets on that stage."

"I get it, it's just for some reason the thought of Sebastian becoming the mayor freaks me out. There's something off about that guy."

"Right now we can only focus on the bad guys we know about." Oliver replied before holding out his hand. "C'mon."

"C'mon, where?"

"You promised to show your support for my mother's campaign, and since this is probably the last rally she's going to have—"

"Oliver, I literally feel like I will keel over if I stand up there."

"Just lean on me."

"Why, so I can bring you down with me?" Katie asked begrudgingly taking the man's hand. "You still owe me for this, you know?"

"I do know." Oliver replied bringing an arm around the woman as they headed on stage. "It haunts my dreams."

Felicity sat alone in the basement of the club, listening to Moira's speech. She did find her attention move to Oliver and Katie who stood very close to one another, and that's when she noticed Katie leaning against Oliver's side.

"Any luck finding Roy?" a voice said startling her.

"Oh God!" Felicity shrieked, placing a hand over her now rapidly beating heart and she turned to see Bruce. "Why would you do that?"

"I thought you heard me come down." the man said, his eyes glancing over to one of the monitors performing a facial recognition search that was using his program. "I'm glad my program is able to help." Felicity rolled her eyes before turning back to watch the speech.

"You know I knew you would hate me." Bruce spoke to the back of the woman's head. "I knew it the moment I made the decision to end things and I told myself that in the end it would be better for everyone. I would be the man my city needed and you would find true happiness."

"How is that working for you?" she muttered and he sighed.

"Oh for two actually." the man replied walking over and taking the seat beside her and looking up to the speech. "Rachel's dead." the man's voice seemed so sad in that moment and despite Felicity's anger toward the man she turned to him. "Rachel's dead because I didn't just take care of the Joker when I had the chance. I—"

"Listen to me Bruce." Felicity said swiveling her chair to face the man. "This probably will never happen again after this moment, so you should probably listen really good." she leaned in closer to him, her knees bumping into his as her eyes stared into his with a seriousness he couldn't try to miss. "What happened to Rachel and what happened to Harvey, and the bad things that happen to Gotham, they're not your fault." Bruce shook his head and tried to turn away, but the woman placed a hand on his cheek and brought his eyes back to hers. "You are one man who has the dream to stop bad things from happening, but you will not succeed all the time and you will get knocked down and you will lose people, but you have to recognize that some things you just can't control." The woman let out a deep sigh, not even sure how she's able to have this conversation with the man after everything that has happened between them. "Rachel is dead, yes. It's sad and it's unfair, but you weren't the one standing behind the button that caused the explosion. It's not your fault and I don't think she would want you carrying that on your back." And with that the woman turned her chair back to the screen just as Thea moved toward the microphone after her mother's speech.

_"Um Hi." Thea says with a nervous chuckle. "I just wanted to come up here and say a few words. I am so proud to have my mom here tonight at my club, Verdant, in the Glades." _

"Oh Thea you little genius." Felicity muttered when she realized what the girl was doing. She turned her chair to see Bruce still staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing, thanks for the talk." Bruce said with a nod. "I know after everything that has happened with us, that helping to pick me up isn't the first thing you want to do, but—"

"You're right, it's not." Felicity said turning back to the monitor and refocusing the search to area closer to the club. "But the Batman can't spend the rest of his days moping like a little girl. You're still needed." Bruce stared at the woman's profile, and her attempt to not make eye contact with him and a smile came to his face. He realized the woman in front of him still cared about him despite everything. He wasn't sure what it meant or even if he wanted it to mean something.

"If you're helping, then you should probably go keep an eye out." Felicity said not taking her eyes from the computer. "Thea's little awkward announcement was a message to Roy and if he saw it—"

"Then he's on his way here." Bruce said standing to his feet just as the doors to the basement opened and down limped Oliver. "Are you sure you should be moving like that on your knee?" Oliver sent a glare toward Bruce as Felicity rushed over to help him move to the table to shift his weight.

"Why are you here?"

"You're injured, Robins is injured. I thought I would assist on Roy since he's probably headed here right now." Bruce replied meeting the man. "Can you afford not to have my help right now?"

"Actually I can." Oliver says turning to Felicity who was suddenly now giving him one of her many looks. It's one he's familiar with. It mean's she think he's being an ass, which he probably was. Oliver let out a sigh as he shook his head and turned back to the man. "Fine, but you listen to everything I say."

"Well I guess someone should." Bruce said with a smile before turning and heading out the back door. "Good thing I brought my suit!"

Katie stood near the bar once again, her eyes watching the mingling of people. Oliver had disappeared after Thea's attempt to get to Roy. She was supposed to stay up here and keep an eye out, just in case something happened.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one here who looks like this is a waste of time." Thea said and Katie turned to see the woman holding a glass of champagne.

"Are you talking to me?" Katie asked, looking around and Thea simply rolled her eyes. "I don't think hell has frozen over yet."

"Ha ha." Thea deadpanned as she sat her glass down on the bar, but noticed Katie grimace as she moved. "Are you alright?" Katie shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine, I just...I went running this morning and now I'm completely sore." Katie said hoping it was a good enough lie. "So what was that before—" Katie nodded her head toward the stage. She knew the truth, and just wondered if the woman would tell her.

"I'm worried about Roy. Hopefully he saw me and is going to come here." Thea replied turning to her. "Have you seen him or talked to him?"

"No." Katie replied with a shake of her head. She really did hate lying to the woman, but there was no way she could tell Thea that she had seen Roy and that he's the reason it hurts when she breathes. "I'm sure he will turn up sooner or later, you just have—"

"We need to talk!" both Katie and Thea jumped slightly at the woman who appeared in front of hem. Katie looked at the woman, who looked obviously frazzled about something.

"Ms. Lane, are you—"

"No, I'm not alright, but I think you may know more about it then you're letting on." Lois said glancing over to Thea. "Ms. Queen if you will excuse us, I need to borrow the doctor for just a few moments."

"Should I find Oliver?" Thea asked turning to Katie who simply shook her head.

"No it's alright, I'm sure Ms. Lane just wants to ask a few more questions about this story she's working on." Katie replied turning back to Lois.

"Is there some place quiet we can go?" Lois asked and Katie glanced around before Thea spoke.

"You can use my office upstairs." Thea suggested and Katie turned to her with a quirked brow. "It should be empty."

"Thanks, that's oddly nice of you." Katie said, turning back to Lois. "C'mon, follow me." Thea stood and watched as the two women sifted through the crowd.

"What's that about?" a voice spoke from beside her, causing her to roll her eyes. She looked over to see John, whose been following her for the past couple of days under her brother's order.

"No idea, but instead of watching me like a hawk, maybe you should be keeping an eye on Twinkie." Thea replied and John glanced over to her.

Once Katie walked into Thea's office, she turned just as the reporter closed the door.

"What is this about?"

"I haven't seen Clark in days." Lois said suddenly walking up to Katie causing the woman to stand a bit straighter, despite the protests of her body. "My source, the one whose been feeding me the mother of all intell has suddenly gone off the grid."

"What does this have to do with me?" Katie asked and Lois shrugged.

"Nothing...everything, I don't know, but you're not saying something." Lois held an accusing finger in the woman's face. "Just tell me what it is."

"You're the investigative report Ms. Lane, I know you know that's not how this works." Katie replied moving to go around the woman and leave the room, but Lois took a step to side to block her. "I have had a really bad day and I would very much not like to add to it. " Katie tried to walked around the woman once again, this time when Katie tried to move away, Lois grabbed the woman's arm, twisting it behind her back and pushing Katie's face against the door.

"You know what I can't stand about you rich kids, you're so smug." Lois practically growled. "Something is happening, something big, something possibly dangerous and you're pretending as if you could care less."

"You're not putting enough pressure on my arm." Katie said and Lois looked over to her confused. "You see I have too much wiggle room, which will allow me—" Katie whipped her head back hitting the woman in the face, causing her to release her grip on Katie's arm. "—to do That." She turned to see Lois cradling her nose in her hands. "It's not broken, but I bet it hurts like shit." Katie turned to leave, but Lois once again stopped her.

"Waller!" Lois called and Katie froze. "Agent Waller, who is she?" Katie turned back to the woman who dropped her hands, revealing a clearly bruised nose. "She showed up to my room demanding I tell her who my source was or she was going to make my life hell and that included hurting my family." Katie turned away in thought, unsure why Amanda would worry about some reporter.

"Your source." Katie said turning back to the woman. "You had knowledge of things, sensitive things that you shouldn't know." Katie took a step toward the woman. "Who is your source?"

"I can't—"

"Lois, I want to help you!" Katie snapped. "I want to help you get the answers you want, but I can't do that if I don't know what you already know. Your source has to be someone with some serious knowledge of ARGUS, which for you could be dangerous. Who is your source?" Lois looked unsure, but with a shake of her head, she turned back to Katie.

"I never knew his name, because he never gave it to me. He contacted me. How he got my number, I don't know, but he did and he would call to meet—"

"Meet where?"

"Starling National Park, there was this bench next to a—"

"Pond." Katie said and Lois simply nodded.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"My dad used to take me to that park after my mother died. We would just sit for hours there." Katie replied still trying to make sense of the new information. "Why— "Both women jumped at the sudden sound of gunfire that erupted from outside the office.

"What the hell was that?" Lois asked and Katie turned suddenly remembering the current probably of Roy Harper.

"Stay here." Katie said, already heading for the door.

"Wait, stay here, are you crazy, you can't seriously be thinking about going out there." Lois replied and Katie looked back to the woman.

"My family is out there." Katie said, hoping that was enough justification for the woman. Even if it wasn't, it didn't stop her from turning and rushing from the office. The moment she headed down the stairs, she heard the screaming that filled the club. Once she reaches the commotion, she's immediately hit with the sight of Sara, dressed as the Canary, with a pistol aimed right at Roy's head as the man cradles the new bullet hole in his leg. Without really thinking, Katie quickly moves behind Sara who whips around at the sudden movement. Using the surprise to her advantage, Katie grabbed the woman's wrist, twisting it enough to cause the woman to drop the gun. In a swift move, Sara threw a punch, that Katie blocked with her arm before sending a kick to the woman's gut before picking up the gun and aiming it at her. "You need to leave now." Sara glared darkly, before jumping to her feet and rushing out of the club. When she was gone, Katie turned back to Roy who stood to his feet.

"Just shoot me!" he growled and Katie looked at him with wide eyes before tossing the gun to the floor which seemed to only anger the man who took a slight step forward as if to attack. He never made a second step, before there were suddenly three arrows shot into his chest. Katie turned her head to see Oliver standing with his bow in his hand. He turned to Katie, taking a single step but stopping himself as if remembering that Oliver Queen wasn't present in this moment.

"The police." Thea spoke, watered eyes looking down to Roy. She looked back over to the hooded hero.

"Go outside." Oliver's modulated voice ordered looking over to Thea and Sin. "I'll get Roy the help he needs, I promise." Thea hesitated for a moment, but allowed Sin to lead her toward the doors, but she stopped and looked back to Katie.

"Katie—"

"Sorry Thea, some weirdo in a mask promises aren't enough for me." Katie replied glancing over to the Arrow with a shake of her head before turning back to Thea. "I am going to make sure Roy gets help, trust me." Thea looked at her for a moment, before giving her a nod and finally letting Sin lead her outside.  
  
"Weirdo in a mask." Oliver muttered walking over to grab Roy's arm.

"Aw, I still love you honey." Katie said walking over to grab the man's other arm.

Soon they all stood around the familiar metal slab where Roy laid, an IV hanging from his arm.

"Tibetan pit viper venom." Felicity said watching as Katie placed the stethoscope against Roy's chest. "A constant dose of that can't be good for you. Right?"

"It'll keep him sedated like it did Slade." Diggle noted and Felicity nodded.

"Don't worry, if it starts doing something to him that I don't like, then we'll stop it." Katie replies pulling the stethoscope from her ears. "And hopefully by then, we'll have a cure." Katie glanced over to where Sara stood, across the room away from the others and decided to walk over.

"I would've killed him." Sara stated when Katie walked over. "If you didn't show up when you did, I would've killed him." She met Katie's eyes, and Katie could see the fear the revelation stirred in the woman. "It's him. I spent six years in darkness. Stared the devil in the eyes and then just gave him my soul."

"That's just it Sara." Katie replied. "Ra's is a dark son of a bitch, but he does not have the power to take your soul. He has the power to manipulate you, put fear in you, mess with your head, but that thing, that light that's inside of you." Katie placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "That light that caused you to hesitate pulling that trigger, he couldn't take that away."

"But he did." Sara said dropping her head. "And because of it, I can't be here." Sara glance up to see Oliver walk over, standing beside Katie. "I can't be the help this team needs if I'm still so wrapped up in Nanda Parbat and that life."

"Then let us help you." Oliver pleaded, but the woman shook her head, before grabbing her jacket.

"Sara, don't—" Katie said taking a step forward.

"I'm not ready for this." the woman said before turning heading out the back door. Katie stood there, watching helplessly as the woman just left. Oliver snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"I know exactly how she feels right now." Katie said turning to Oliver. "I had that gun in my hand, and I pointed it right at Jeremy. My family—"

"Katie, that was totally different."

"I know it was. Sara had someone to stop her, and I didn't." Katie dropped her head to Oliver's chest as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "How is your knee?" she mumbled against his chest.

"Still hurts like hell." he replied his hand mindlessly moving around her back. "Your ribs?"

"They actually feel better."

"Really?"

"No, I was trying to use the power of positive thinking, but it didn't work."

"C'mon, we should head upstairs and find my mom and sister so we can all head to the mansion." Oliver said. Katie pulled her head up, and looked around the man to Roy. "Right now he's stable, and controlled."

"Yeah, but I think someone with a medical degree should be with him at all times." Katie replied looking up to the man. "He has two different kinds of poison moving through his veins right now, I just—"

"I'll have Felicity call Ethan." Oliver replied, though it was obvious that it was suggestion he didn't seem too pleased to make. "This has been a long and stressful day and we could both use some rest."

"Fine." Katie sighed glancing over to Roy once again. Once Oliver spoke to Felicity and let John know that they would be leaving, both he and Katie slipped back up to the club.

When they were finally gone, both Felicity and John stood staring down to the unconscious body of Roy Harper in silence.

"He's going to ask her to marry him." Felicity said suddenly and John turned to her in confusion. She felt his eyes on her and she turned with a nervous smile. "I had to tell someone that because I was just going to burst."

"Felicity, what are you talking about?"

"C'mon John, It makes perfect sense. Why he's been avoiding confrontations, why he whisked them away to the Ritz." Felicity replied with a wide smile. "He's going to ask her, and my money is going to be that it happens tonight."

"You really think that after everything that has happened today, that Oliver would think now was the perfect moment to propose to Katie?" John asked and Felicity just nodded.

"I think that's exactly the reason why he will. After this shit-tastic day, he'll just need something to bring some light to it, and so he'll propose, and I will be the maid of honor and help plan the wedding. Mark my words John Diggle." the woman gave a nod before turning and heading back to her desk. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think it's time I called the annoying doctor that likes to call me Fee Fee."

Once Oliver and Katie slipped back upstairs, they glanced around to see all the police that mulled about. They saw Moira and Thea speaking with a police officer, and headed over. The moment Thea saw Katie, she quickly walked over grabbing the woman's arm.

"We need to talk." Thea said, not waiting for a response before pulling the woman away from prying ears. "What are you doing here, I thought—"

"Thea, I said not to worry. He's in good hands, people I trust."

"What people?"

"Thea Queen, I promise you that you'll get him back." Katie said before holding up her hand and sticking out her pinky. "And to reassure you, I'm willing to make it official."

"You're such a dork." Thea said with a roll of her eyes, but lifted her hand and intertwined her pinky with Katie. "Just do what you have to, ok?" Katie simply nodded before the pair walked back over to Oliver and Moira. Thea's eyes went to her brother, who she now remembers seemed to be MIA during commotion. "Where were you?"

"He was with me." Moira answered quickly. Katie glanced over to Oliver who just gave his mother an appreciative look. The answer didn't seem to appease Thea, who sighed.

"Glad to see you two are getting along." she muttered before storming out the door.

"Thea..." Moira said following behind her daughter.

"Why did your mom just lie for you?" Katie whispered as she intertwined her arm with his and headed out as well.

"Apparently she knows my secret." Oliver replied and Katie turned to him with wide eyes. "Has for a while now."

"Really?" Katie asks, quite surprised that Moira had been keeping such a secret this entire time. They all got into an awaiting limo, that pulled off the moment everyone was inside. The ride was brutally quiet as Katie sat beside Thea, and Oliver next to his mother.

"You knew about Roy." Thea said suddenly breaking the silence and turning to her brother. "It's why you had your bodyguard stalking me. Somehow, you knew what was going on with him."

"I was trying to protect you." Oliver declared looking back to his sister.

"By not telling me the truth. Just like with Malcolm Merlyn." Thea stated glancing over to her mother as well. "You know, the two of you, you think you're protecting me by lying and by keeping secrets. But that's what's actually hurting me."

"You're absolutely right." Moira stated, shocking her daughter."We need to turn a new page"

"It's not going to be that simple. Or easy." Thea countered not ready to just forgive and forget.

"I know." Moira said with a nod, seeing the glimmer of hope of repairing her relationship with her daughter. "If the truth were easy for me, we wouldn't be in this situation." she sighed glancing over to Oliver and then turning back to Thea. "But to start, there's something about Malcolm that both you and Oliver need to know." she glanced over to Katie who chose to remain silent for this obvious family discussion. "And come to think of it, you too Katherine." Katie stared back to the woman in confusion, but silently waited for the woman to continue. "Malcolm—"

Malcolm's name was the last word spoken in the back of that limousine before everything just stopped. It's funny when something big happens, something extreme, the entire world seems to just fall into that moment. A vehicle crashed into the side of the limo hard and it seemed like something out of a movie. They were all tossed about, glass going everywhere, unaware of the plot they had just successfully entered.

_It was a very surreal moment Katie had as she sat in the familiar room that she believed would be her permanent prison. Moments earlier she was told that she would finally be going home, and at first she was understandably skeptical, but then something happened. An agent who didn't bother introducing himself came in with a document, a very detailed document in Katie's opinion, that listed every moment that would occur the moment she stepped out of this room. Her eyes lingered on the last bullet point that read, "Subject is returned to American Embassy" and she doesn't know what it is, but it made her nervous. It was as if she'd been running a race that seemed like it would never end and then she finally spots the finish line, and she stops in hesitation. Two years she'd been gone from home, away from her family and the life she once had. She was not the same woman that left her home and because of that she was nervous. There was a sudden knock at her door, and Katie sat up a bit straighter, turning to see Lyla open the door. _

_"It's time." she spoke and for some odd reason Katie didn't move. "Katie—" _

_"This is a trick isn't it. Another carrot dangling in front of me and you're just waiting to snatch it before I can get it, right?" Lyla sighs, closing the door and walking over to take the seat that sits across from Katie. _

_"This isn't a trick. I'm not completely sure of the ins and outs of this entire arrangement, but what I do know is that you really are going home." Lyla replied with a smile. "You know I am a bit disappointed. I think I would've loved to work on a couple of ops with you. I think you would've made a better partner than Matthews." Katie didn't crack a smile as she turned away. "I thought you would be happy about finally getting out of here." _

_"I was kidnapped and beaten and then kidnapped again and then tortured." Katie said turning back to the woman. "I left Starling as Dr. Katherine Robins and right now, because of all of this, I don't know who or what I am." Katie slid her hands across her face, dropping her head. "You're right, I desperately want to go home, but what will me coming back do?" she looked back up to Lyla. "The person I am, who I've become, who has stared evil right in the eyes, how does she just walk back into Kansas like Oz never happened?"  
"I can't imagine—" _

_"Of course you can't." Katie muttered with a shake of her head. "I need a minute, and then I'll be right out." Lyla simply nodded before standing to her feet and heading for the door. She opened the door, but stopped before leaving, glancing back to the woman. _

_"You know there's this saying, something I heard a long time ago. It says, "The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." That—" Lyla shook her head, and sighed. "You shouldn't be afraid of going home. Home is the place that you can leave and come back and it's still just home." the woman gave a final nod before turning and walking out of the room leaving Katie once again with the stirring of feelings in her belly. _

There was a sudden stop, and Katie was literally jerked awake by the force. Her eyes snapped open, unsure what was happening. She tried to blink away the disorientation, but it wasn't so easy. She heard muttered voices around her, and she turned to the face of a man she'd never seen before. He didn't look at her, even though she was sitting right beside him, looking right at him. She whipped her head around to the other side, where yet another unfamiliar, large man sat who too simply acted as if she weren't there. She faced forward to see nothing but darkness outside the windshield. She tried calling Oliver's name, but it came out muffled, which is the moment she realized there was gag in her mouth. She went to pull it out, but it was the next moment she realized that her hands were tied behind her back.

"What's the problem?" One of the men asked.

"I saw something move out there."The driver said squinting his eyes to see through the darkness.

"There's nothing there, just drive before Slade has our—" the man never finished his sentence before something suddenly crashed on the top of the SUV they were inside, shattering all the windows.

All the men leapt out of the vehicle, leaving Katie alone, still struggling to unbind herself. Her head jilted up at the sudden sound of gunfire, and she began pulling at her wrists in the ropes. She bit down on the bound that was inside her mouth as she relentlessly pulled her wrists, trying and failing to ignore the pain. At some point, she was afraid she would have to break her wrist, but with one jerk she was finally free. Katie grabbed the gag from her mouth before quickly sliding out of the car. The moment she was standing, was the moment everything started spinning. She quickly fell against the side of the SUV to stop herself from hitting the ground. Her eyes glance around to see bodies lying on the ground. There were sudden footsteps, and she turned prepared to use whatever strength, and lucidness to put up as best a fight as she could. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to, as her eyes finally saw someone familiar.

"Bruce—" the man moved toward her, placing a hand on the side of her face as he looked at the blood on her head.

"Look at me Robins." he spoke, his voice still gravelly, never pulling from his alter ego. She blinked, still trying gain focus. "Robins—" his voice was clearly worried, but Katie turned her eyes to him. "Are you alright?"

"Where's Oliver?" she asked ignoring his question.

"Right now, I need to know if you're alright!" he looked at the gash on her head, not liking the look of it. "There's a lot of blood—" Katie suddenly, weakly pushed the man away and began aimlessly walking. "Where are you going?"

"I have to find Oliver." she replied, before her leg once again felt like jello, and just gave in underneath her, and she just dropped the the ground.

"Robins, we need to get you to a hospital." Bruce said, quickly picking her up in his arms.

"Bruce, please." Katie pleaded, her heart ramming in her chest at not knowing where Oliver was. Bruce growled under his breath, before turning and walking toward the bat mobile. Katie always meant to ask how the hell he snuck the car into the city undetected, but never had the chance. At the moment she didn't really care. Once she and Bruce were inside the car, they sped off. Bruce reached forward, pressing a button and suddenly Felicity's voice sounded.

_"Did you find her?"_ the woman asked frantically.

"Yes." Bruce said glancing over to Katie. "Have you had any luck finding Oliver."

_"I'm pinging his, Thea and Mrs. Queen—"_ Felicity suddenly paused. _"Wait, I have it. I'm sending you the coordinates."_

The GPS suddenly shifted, and Bruce looked to see the location wasn't that far off.

"Alright, I got it." Bruce answered, before pressing the gas just a little bit harder. Soon they were driving among trees, and Katie saw something in the distance.

"Bruce there!" she yelled, and Bruce turned seeing something as well. He drove the car, getting closer. The moment he stopped, he couldn't even get a word out, before Katie was opening the door and running out.

"Shit!" the man yelled before getting out as well.

"Oliver!" she called, her voice weak and dry. The closer she got, she suddenly was hit with Thea's cries.

"Mom, no!" the woman sobbed. Katie came to halt as she looked down to see Oliver lying with his hands tied behind his back as Thea cried over the still form of her mother. Thea's tear soaked eyes turned to Katie. "Do something, you have—" she could barely make a sentence she was so overcome with grief. Katie knelt down, looking to Moira's body, her eyes closed. She dropped her head to the woman's chest, but she heard nothing.

"Moira." she whispered, feeling tears forming in her own eyes. "No, no—" Katie placed her hands on the woman's chest, feeling the warm blood instantly. Her mind scrambled trying to figure out what to do, and yet nothing came to her.

"Do something!" Thea yelled from beside Katie still crying. "Bring her back! Bring my mommy back!" Katie turned to the young woman and suddenly threw her arms around her in a hug, that Thea didn't seem to have the strength to pull away from. She looked over as Bruce untied Oliver's hands, but he didn't move from his spot on the ground, his eyes on his dead mother.

Oliver Queen had found himself in yet another moment he never expected to find. A moment he’s positive he’s not ready for.


	23. The End of the Beginning

**Chapter 23**

**The End of the Beginning **

_"Now this is not the end. It's not even the beginning of the end.  
_ _But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."_

-Winston Churchill

* * *

_Clocks seem to just know that death is in the air. Katie sat on the edge of her bed, and the clock that hung on the wall seemed to tic louder and louder with every passing second. It's why the sudden knock at the door caused her to jump. She glanced up toward her door as it opened, and soon her father appeared. He wore a sad smile now whenever he looked at her. She figured it was his way of trying to hide the sadness he truly felt. It was a terrible attempt at a disguise which she saw right through. _

_"The car's here sweetie." he said, his voice taking on more of a loud whisper. Katie turned silently looking back to the clock, watching as second after second just ticked away and never come back. "We should go." Katie sighed, silently standing to her feet before grabbing her jacket and slipping it on before walking toward the door, not uttering a word to her father as she passed him. _

Thea held on to Katie's hand tight for the majority of the day, and Katie wouldn't even think of letting it go. Katie did however find herself zoning out through the funeral, always looking up, searching for the person who was supposed to be there. Oliver was noticeably absent for most of the day. She called, left messages, she texted and he actually responded, but nothing more than an "I'm fine" before ignoring her all together. As his girlfriend she wanted to find him, comfort him, but a part of her was upset that he couldn't get past this, like she did. He was supposed to be strong, able to snap back just as she did after her father's death. She soon stopped such thoughts, because they became less about what was wrong with him, and more about how actually damaged she was.

At the reception, Thea finally released Katie's hand, but remained close to her side as person after person hugged and gave their condolences. When the last person had walked off, she leaned over to Katie.

"Now I know why you hid at your father's reception." Thea whispered and Katie smirked looking over to her.

"I told you, when you're ready for this to be over, I will end it." Katie whispered back and Thea looked over to her with a smile.

"Thanks." Katie simply nodded and Thea shook her head. "No, for everything. For being here for me, for helping me with all of this. Oliver—"

"He's taking this really hard." Katie said and Thea nodded.

"Yeah, but this was his mother's funeral." Thea replied with a shake of her head. "I think I'm going to go up to my room for a while." Katie nodded, placing a kiss to Thea's head before watching the girl walk off. Katie turned back to the crowd, searching out for John and Felicity. She spotted them across the room, but staring wide eyed at something. When she followed their gaze, she finally saw what had caught their attention.

"Isabel?" Katie whispered when the woman suddenly met Katie's gaze and had the audacity to smirk. For some reason in that moment, Katie didn't care about the room full of witnesses, she was going to go over and snap that woman's neck. She began stalking toward her, when John suddenly stepped in front of her. She turned a glare to him and he just sighed.

"I know, but this is definitely not the time." John replied and Katie shook her head before looking around the man to see the woman chatting with a couple of the guests.

"Why isn't she dead?" Katie asked and John looked over to the woman as well and just shook his head.

"No idea, but I'm guessing we've been really underestimating Slade's abilities." John replied turning back to Katie. "Oliver should know about this." Katie quirked a brow before turning to the man. "Nobody's heard from him in days, and like most people we're figuring that you have."

"I don't know where he is." Katie replied turning away from the man. "Oliver wants to be alone, and so we should respect his wishes." Katie looked over to the clock and sighed. "I'm going to go check on Thea, I think it's time this party ended."

Once everything and everyone was cleared out, Katie was about to head up to find Thea, only to run into the woman who had her coat on ready to go out.

"You're leaving?" Katie asked and Thea nodded.

"Yeah, I haven't been around the club for a couple of days and I want to make sure everything's still running smoothly." Thea replied with a slight shake of her head. "Plus I can't stay here. I need to get my mind somewhere else."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Katie asked and Thea shook her head with a smile.

"No, that's alright. I think you've been babysitting Speedy enough for one day." the woman replied walking over to her. "Thanks again for being here, even though I know there is some place you really want to be."

"Thea—"

"Go, find him, I'll be alright." Thea replied before heading for the door. She stopped and turned back to the woman. "And I won't even bitch about the new guard stalking me."

"It wouldn't matter if you did." Katie replied and Thea simply rolled her eyes before turning and finally leaving. Katie stood there for a couple of moments, in the Queen manor before her eyes went to the large picture of Moira that still stood in the living room. "Goodbye Moira."

Katie never thought that she would have to find Oliver. He was always there, always near her. And now he was no where to be found. She would call his phone, but would get no answer and there were only a few texts where he would reply. Always one or two words, "fine" or "I'm alright." It was driving her crazy not knowing if any of those things were actually true and so after a couple of days of sitting in a hotel room, Katie had finally had enough and so she made a call to someone who she really didn't want to have to call. She heard a knock at her door and stood to her feet and walked over, seeing the face of Bruce Wayne.

"You know people who own homes, usually stay at them." Bruce said, bypassing greetings.

"Well people who own homes, probably didn't kill a relative in those homes." Katie replied grabbing her coat and pushing the man out into the hall so they could go."I'm assuming that if you're here, then I can assume you know where he is." Katie stated and Bruce nodded as the headed outside to his car.

"Yeah, and I'm just confused as hell about it." Bruce replied taking a step forward to open the door for her.

It had been a while since Katie and Bruce had been alone for such a relatively long time as this one. Bruce noticed it more than Katie, and decided to take advantage. "So other than your boyfriend being missing, how are things with you and Mr. Queen?" Katie quirked a brow and turned to the man. "What? It's just conversation Robins."

"Well besides everything that's been happening, sure, Oliver and I are good." Katie replied with a certain nod before turning to look back out the window.

"Now that is surprising." Bruce muttered under his breath, but he should've known Katie would hear him and the look she turned to him only verified it.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I just didn't think he had it in him." Bruce said and Katie continued staring at him in confusion. "C'mon, ,you can't tell me you aren't a little surprised at how well this is working out. Especially knowing the kind of people you two are."

"The kind of people we are?" Katie repeated, turning in her seat to face him as she awaited his explanation of the phrase.

"If I can be brutally honest with you—" Bruce said looking over to Katie who nodded. "You've been through the fire and the flood, and you pretend as if it didn't happen, even though it eats away at you." the man shook his head turning back to the road. "And Oliver, well Oliver has a whole different problem. He's placed a whole city on his back and promised to keep them safe, which rarely if ever even allows for personal relationships."

"Oh, I get it." Katie said and Bruce glanced over to her. "You're projecting your situation onto us. You know Bruce, some people actually try to make relationships work. They don't all end them before anything actually happens."

"They probably should." Bruce said with a shake of his head as he looked to the road. "It saves a lot of pain." Katie chose to not reply and just simply turned back to look out the window. When they pulled in front of the rough looking building, Katie quirked a brow in confusion.

"You sure he's here?"

"Yeah, this is his secondary lair." Bruce replied and Katie turned to him. "Let's just say that I was just as unsure about Oliver as he was about me." he looked across from her at the building. "He should be in there." Katie turned back to the building, unsure how she felt about Oliver having a secret place and not even telling her about it. It was very hypocritical for her to even be upset, when she herself finds it difficult to be completely honest with him one hundred percent of the time. "Are you going to go in, or are you going to sit here with me the entire night?" Katie simply took a deep breath before giving Bruce a lazy wave before stepping out of his car and walking toward the building.

The building itself, on the outside, looked completely abandoned. Walking through the door gave the same impression, with peeling paint, thick dust lining the walls. She moved, her feet causing the floor boards to creek underneath her. For a while she thinks Bruce had given her some faulty intel, when she spots a stairwell that leads down to something. She walks over and looks down the deep stairwell, to see the light flickering of lights coming from somewhere down there. Cautiously, she begins walking down, trying to remain as quiet as possible, just in case. When she finally reaches the bottom, she stops and scans the room. The room seemed to be lit by small box lanterns. The place wasn't too big, but it was big enough for target dummies, and a few tables. It was pretty much a basement, with low ceilings, and large pillars. As her eyes scanned the room, they happened upon the man she was looking for, sitting on the floor, his back against one of the cement pillars. She knew he knew it was her, but he didn't say anything and so she stalked over to stand in front of him, dropping her bag to the floor before dropping to the floor in front of him, crossing her legs.

"How did you find me?" he asked and Katie looked at him with a quirked brow.

"One night while you were asleep, I implanted a GPS chip in the back of your left ear." She replied not even batting an eye. She looked up and glanced around the lair. "You have a whole secret place, huh?" she looked back to him. "Very good place to hide from people." she turned away. "I just didn't think I was someone you needed to hide from."

"Katie—" Oliver started, but Katie turned back to him and just shook her head.

"It's fine. We all process grief in our own way. I just really wanted to be there for you, like you were when my dad—" emotions struck her in that moment, that she promised herself wouldn't rear their ugly head today. She shook away the thoughts before looking back over to Oliver. "So I guess this is the moment I ask you, what do you need?" Oliver stared at her silently for a few moments thinking over her question. "I mean you came here to be alone, should I leave?" she grabbed her bag about to stand.

"Come here." Oliver said suddenly and Katie glanced over to him for a moment, before sliding closer to him. Once she was in arm's reach, Oliver pulled the woman into his lap, so she was straddling his waist. Katie placed her hands on the sides of his face, lifting his eyes to meet her. She could see the pain and sadness that he held behind his gaze, and it broke her heart.

"What do you need?" Katie whispered, and Oliver simply slid a hand behind her neck, and pulled her in for a kiss. It was a kiss that seemed to take over the moment. He needed to just forget and as soon as their lips and hands moved over each other’s body, emotions just poured out of them. It was when Oliver's hands, slid up Katie's thigh, finding their way up to the button of her pants slipping inside, fingers curling around elastic and tugging, did she realize that she should put a stop to this before it goes too far. "Wait—" she pulls from his lips, in hopes that he stops, but it doesn't seem to slow him down one bit. His lips simply attack her neck, once again clouding all reason. "You're..avoiding, Oliver—" she was trying to be strong, but the man's lips were sucking all rationale from the room. His hands were still in a very dangerous place, moving in ways that didn't help slow down what was happening.

"Oh my eyes!" a voice suddenly yelled and Oliver and Katie pulled apart, their eyes turning to see Felicity and John standing, their backs now turned away from the couple.

"You know, when you said you didn't know where he was, we actually believed you." John said, the annoyance evident in his tone.

"Well when you asked, I didn't know. You didn't ask if I could find out." Katie replied trying to slide off of Oliver lap, but finding the man's grasp was not loosening to allow it. She turned back to him to see his eyes still on her. "How did you guys find him?"

"Waller." John answered and Katie shook her head. "Can we turn around now?"

"One sec." Katie said still staring down to the man, before leaning into and whispering. "What's going on?"

"Five years ago, I could've cured Slade." Oliver said, not whispering and so John and Felicity turned back to them. "And that would have prevented all of this. And now, all the people left that I care about, we are all in his cross hairs. It ends tonight."

"How exactly does it end?" Katie asked, their eye contact never breaking.

"I turn myself over to Slade." Oliver said hating the look in Katie's eyes as he did. "I end this vendetta." Katie pulled herself from Oliver's grasp, and stood to her feet. Oliver did the same, not moving from in front of her.

"Oliver, you think this ends with you turning yourself over to Slade?" John asked, annoyed that Oliver didn't even look their way.

"Yes I do." Oliver says as Katie shakes her head. "Twinkie—"

"You're an idiot." she says bluntly turning back to him. "Sorry, I love more than—" she swallowed the sudden emotion in her throat and once again shook her head. "Slade doesn't want you Oliver. He's had countless times to have you, but that's not what he wants. He wants to hurt you, just like he feels you have hurt him. He—"

"You weren't there. After he—after she was gone, he told me that one more person had to die and this would be over."

"And you think that person is you?" she asked and Oliver nodded. "I don't accept that, I don't—" Katie turned her back to him and sighed.

"Katie—"

_There was a house full of people, downstairs. Katie was sick of the crying and random people she barely knew walking up and hugging her. That's why she now sat in her closet, hugging her teddy to her chest. It was the best hiding spot she could think of. Her eyes were locked on the closet door, that she'd decorated with posters, and pictures. There was one picture she couldn't turn away from, and it was the one picture of her mother. She doesn't even remember where they were or what they were doing, but she and her mother were standing there, smiling wide smiles. It should make her cry in this moment, but it would seem Katie's tears just weren't working today. She hadn't shed a single tear at her mother's funeral or even after and she wasn't sure why. There was a knock at her bedroom door, but she didn't utter a peep. _

_"Twinkie you in here?" she heard the familiar voice of Oliver Queen speak, but she still didn't answer. She heard her door open and he walked inside. "Twinkie?" suddenly the door to her closet opened and he appeared in front of her. "Why didn't you answer when I called?" _

_"What's the point in hiding if people find you?" Katie asked dropping her eyes from him. "Did my dad send you to find me?" _

_"No, it was getting kind of depressing down there and I thought I would come find you." Oliver said looking around the closet. "Did you want me to leave?" _

_"Yes." she replied and Oliver stood there for a few moments, before walking inside, and plopping down beside her. "You're very annoying, you know that?"_

_"I do know that." Oliver replied with a small smile. "I'm sorry about your mom." _

_"People die." Katie muttered turning back to the picture on the door. "It doesn't make any sense, she was so..." a million words came to her mind as she thought about her mother, but one stood out. "Good." she turned back to Oliver. "I thought she was happy. How could I not see—" _

_"Hey, don't do that." Oliver said, bringing an arm around her and she dropped her head to his shoulder. "Sometimes shit happens." _

_"He barely talks to me since it happened." Katie said looking up to the wall. "I mean what if he blames me." _

_"He doesn't blame you, he's just sad. People deal with death in their own way." Oliver replied dropping his head on top of hers. They sat in silence for a few moments. _

_"I want to leave." Katie said suddenly, her voice shaky with emotions she feels are finally starting to come out. _

_"Where do you want to go? I can get my dad's car and maybe—" Katie sat up, and turned to him. "What?" _

_"Oliver, how do I do this?" she turned her eyes away from him. "I'm supposed to have a mother. She was supposed to give me advice, and we were going to fight about stupid things—" she looked back to Oliver and the walls she had seemed to be crumbling. "How do I live without my mom?" Katie shook her head before standing to her feet and storming out of the closet. "I can't be here, I can't stay in this house, this stupid city—" she reached under her bed and took out a suit case and sat it on her _ _bed. She went to walk to her closet, only to run into Oliver who stood blocking her way. "Will you move, I can't stay here, I can't—" she tried pushing past him, but he wouldn't let her, and so she pushed him again...and again and each shove, he never moved. She tried to shove him again, but he caught her arms, before bringing his arms around her in a hug, that she didn't even have the strength to pull from. Soon tears she'd been waiting for all day, seemed to start falling from her eyes._

_"You're not going anywhere Twinkie." Oliver whispered to her. "I won't let you." _

"Katie—"

Katie turned around and looked at Oliver for a moment before walking over to stand right in front of him.

"You're not going anywhere." Katie said placing a hand on the side of his face. "I won't let you." she leaned forward and placed a kiss to his lips before pulling away and heading for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Oliver called after her and she stopped and turned to him.

"I was going to tell Bruce that he didn't have to wait for me." Katie replied. "I'll be right back." and with that Katie turned and headed up the stairs. John and Felicity turned back to Oliver.

"Oliver—"

"Wait." Felicity said interrupting John and they both looked over to her. "Bruce isn't outside." she looked over to John. "We would've seen him on our way in." John and Felicity turned back to Oliver, who didn't even hesitate before running toward the stairs. He burst out the door, but she was no where in sight. He looked down both ends of the street as John and Felicity came out behind him.

There was a sudden beep behind him and he turned to see Felicity pull her cell phone from "It's Katie, she says she's fine." Felicity looked over to Oliver.

It would seem that all Katie had to do was send a single message and in a matter of seconds a car was pulling up in front of her. Now she sat in the back seat of a car, with a driver who had yet to utter a word. She kept her eyes out the window for the majority of the ride, and sighed the moment she arrived. The car door opened, and there standing with a look of confusion was none other than Lyla Michaels.

"I'm going to assume you understand what this meeting implies?" Lyla asked as Katie stepped from the car.

"I don't care what it implies, I will do whatever for the answers I need." Katie replied looking to the secret facility before turning back to Lyla. "Now lead the way. I'm guessing Waller is waiting for me." Lyla simply nodded and turned. Katie hesitated for a moment, but only a moment before following after her.

Katie had never been to this facility in her life, and yet it felt familiar. She had no idea of it's existence or even it's close proximity to Starling, but here it was. As she walked down the dim lit halls, she couldn't help but notice the looks she got from passing agents. She wondered if they knew her sorted past with this agency. Her mind suddenly goes back to the plane, where a random no named agent held his gun pointed at her, and told her that the biggest mistake Waller ever made was bringing her into their agency. She could see it in each passing set of eyes that met hers. They looked at her as if she shouldn't be here. Lyla finally stopped in front of a door, bare of any titles, but Katie figured this office was known by everyone. Once the woman turned back to Katie, she looked at her for a moment.

"You really love him, don't you?" Lyla asked and Katie sighed when she heard the question. It seemed like a crazy question, because the answer was obvious. It has always been obvious to those paying attention.

"Something like that." Katie said, when suddenly Lyla took a step forward, closing the already small space between them.

"Then I think you should know this move could possibly take you away from him. All requests have a price and as long as this agency finds you useful, they will make sure that price is difficult to reach." there was a serious in her eyes and Katie almost smiled. She'd believed Lyla to be ARGUS' top agent, top believer in it's purpose. "Do you understand?"

"I do, I just don't care." Katie replied before walking around the woman and opening the door, without knocking. Waller glanced up with an annoyed look as Katie closed the door behind her and walked over to take a seat.

"My people usually knock and wait for an invitation before barging into my office."

"Well there you go, I'm not your people." Katie replied glancing around the pale walls of the office.

"I assume you're here because—"

"I need to talk to Martin." Katie interrupted as she turned back to the woman. "You have had all this time with him and have not had any luck gaining answers about anything. So I would like to see him." Amanda looked at Katie for a while, and Katie kept her stare, not backing down for the woman's intimidation.

"A meeting with Martin Ellis is impossible." Amanda replied and Katie quirked a brow.

"Well then make it possible, I thought that's what you did." Katie replied and Waller pursed her lips and glanced down to the folder that sat on her desk.

"I'm sorry doctor." Amanda said meeting Katie’s confused gaze. "A meeting with Martin is just impossible." Katie stared for a few moments, before something struck her and she slid further off her seat.

"You let him go, didn't you?" she asked and Waller let out a deep sigh. "Oh my God." Katie stood to her feet and just turned and headed for the door.

"Doctor—"

"He was it!" Katie snapped turning back to the woman. "He had information I needed, information that—"

"About Slade Wilson." Amanda interrupted standing to her feet and walking around her desk.

"Yes."

"I was given the impression that he'd already given you all the information you needed when it came to Slade Wilson."

"He gave me nothing, it was files. The only thing I learned was that it was my father that sent him to that island. I haven't even worked up the courage to tell them." Katie shook her head, unsure what to do now. Martin was her next option. "Why—" she looked back to Waller. "Why did you let him go?" Waller simply crossed her arms in front of her and Katie once again shook her head. She was more upset with herself than the woman in front of her. She did the one thing she knew she shouldn't. She trusted ARGUS and as one would expect, it bit her in the ass."This is the last time I walk through those doors." she turned and walked out the door, not even tempted to look back.

Waller stepped out into the hallway, and watched as the woman stepped out the doors, an agent behind her. She heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't need to turn to know who it was.

"She's going to look for your little minion." Amanda said turning to Jacob who stood beside her.

"No, right now all she's concerned with is stopping Slade Wilson." Jacob replied with a slight smile. There was a monitor in Waller's office, and he watched his daughter, and he couldn't even not notice how much she reminded him of her mother. "She just has no idea that she already has all the answers she needs." _  
_

When Katie arrived at the club, she was still fuming. She needed to step away for a moment, and not think about Moira's death, or Martin's now sudden disappearance. She didn't need to think about Oliver deciding to give himself to Slade. And so she was here, to check on Roy. When she walked down the stairs, she didn't expect to see anyone since it was really late.

"Ethan what are you doing here?" Katie asked and the man turned to her with a tired smile.

"I came to check on him after my shift ended." Ethan replied before pointing to one of the bags Roy was hooked up to. "Did you know the snake venom stuff is about to run out?" Katie glanced up to the bag and sighed.

"Yeah, I did." Katie replied walking over to Roy. "We don't have anymore, so we should really hope that cure comes in soon."

"Hey." Ethan says, placing a hand on Katie's shoulder. "You don't look so good." she didn't say anything as she walked to the other side of the basement, where she had clothes stored in case she needed to change. "Everything alright?"

"No." Katie replied simply, not wanting to get too deep in this conversation. She wasn't completely happy that Ethan was here, and because he was here, it meant he was in danger. They all agreed to keep him as far away from it as possible.

"Is it about Oliver?" Ethan asked and Katie stopped and looked over to him. "He hasn't been around, but I assumed you know since you two have made it official, you would at least see him."

"He lost his mother. He needed—" Katie shook her head, still sad that he would rather be alone than with her. "He needed some time." She sighed before turning toward the bathroom, when suddenly her phone rang. She quickly answered. "Hey, what's—" her eyes widened. "Are you sure it's happening now?" she nodded to herself. "I will be here at the club." she ended the call, her head dropping as she replayed the words she heard.

"Is everything ok?"

"You need to go home Ethan." Katie says turning to the man. "It's late, and this city isn't as safe as we would like to believe."

"Kit?"

"Ethan, just go home." she replied before turning and walking into the bathroom.

Once Katie was changed, all there was to do was wait. She sat next to Roy's still form, glancing over to him ever so often.

"I don't know what to do." she said, her voice barely audible over the monitors. She looked over to Roy. "He was going to—" she shook her head. "This isn't even his fault, it's my—" and that's when it hit her. She knew what she had to do. The moment she heard the footsteps, she jumped to her feet and walked over just as John and Felicity carried an unconscious Oliver from the back entrance of the club. She quickly ran over, taking Felicity's side, and helped carry him over to a chair, resting his head on the desk. Katie quickly grabbed his wrist, closing her eyes as she monitored his heart rate. "How long—" when she opened her eyes she was surprised that there was a new face among them. "Laurel? What—" she looked over to John and Felicity. "What is she doing here?"

"She's the one who clocked him over the head." John said and Katie looked from him to Laurel in confusion.

"Slade told me the truth about Oliver." Laurel said and Katie turned to her. "When he went missing, I was going to call you, but I didn't think it was appropriate. You know ex-girlfriend, asking the current girlfriend, the whereabouts of her boyfriend. So I called John—" she looked over to John. "I told them what I knew and that I was worried and they told me the idiotic thing Oliver was planning and so I went looking for him and it was luck I saw him by the pier and not knowing what else to do, I—"

"You knocked him out." Katie spoke, before turning back to Oliver and sliding a hand across his head.

"I thought—"

"Thank you." Katie said suddenly turning back to the woman. "If you didn't do what you did, I'm not sure we would've seen Oliver again." Katie glanced over to Felicity and John. "I'm going to need a moment alone with him."

"You think you can get through to him?" Laurel asked and Katie shrugged.

"No idea, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try." Katie replied looking over to the man.

"We'll be upstairs." Felicity said as her and John headed for the stairs.

"I think I may have something that can help." Laurel said reaching into her bag and pulling out a folder. She handed it to Katie, who opened it and her eyes widened at what she read.

"That little shit." Katie muttered looking up to Laurel. "Blood and Wilson. He's the skull mask." Laurel simply nodded before glancing over to Oliver.

"Let him know that this is bigger than him and Slade. This city needs him." she turned back to Katie with a final nod before walking over and heading the stairs as well. Katie looked back down to the file with a shake of her head before dropping it on the table. She grabbed another chair and slid it in front of Oliver and waited for him to regain consciousness.

She wouldn't have a wait long, when suddenly a pained groan escaped Oliver's lips. She saw as he slid a hand to his head as he began to sit up. When he lifted his head, he opened his eyes and finally met her gaze.

"Twinkie?" he glanced around, finally realizing where he was. "How—"

"It was that day you found me, hiding in the closet after my mother's funeral." Katie says ignoring Oliver's questions. "I was filled with so much sadness, so much grief and I—" she shook her head as she forced herself back to the memory of that moment.

"Twinkie, what happened?" Oliver still seemed to be trying to figure out how he went from meeting with Slade, to ending up back in the lair with a sore head.

"I was actually seconds away from packing that bag, and slipping out my window before you showed up." Katie said continuing with her story. "I wanted it end. All of that shit that was piling up inside of me, all because she was gone." she looked up and met Oliver's eyes and a tear slipped from her eyes. "You see I was going to leave, because I didn't want him to find me, like he found her." A sudden realization of what she was says hit Oliver and his eyes widen. "I just wanted it to end, but then you walked into my room and you wouldn't go away." she dropped her head and chuckled. "You told me you weren't going to let me go." she looked back up to him with a smile. "And that's when I knew Oliver Queen."

"Knew what?" Oliver asked finally.

"That's when I knew that I loved you." Katie said leaning in closer and placing her hands on Oliver's knees. "When I realized that I wanted a life, a future with you. With marriage, and children and everything else." Oliver took Katie's hands in his as she spoke words he'd never heard her say before. "Which is why I have to tell you something." Katie dropped her head once again, letting out a sigh before looking back to Oliver. "You said Slade told you there was one more person who had to die before this is all over."

"Katie—"

"You said that person is you, but I don't think it is." Katie said before standing to her feet and walking over to her own bag. Oliver stood as well, following her, but stopping as she turned back to him and handed him some papers. He read them over, before looking back to Katie. "My father is the reason Slade Wilson was on that island. He's the reason for us being on that island, for anything that even rhymes with Mirakuru from being put in our lives." Katie's eyes went to the papers. "Slade hurt you, he took your mother and now he wants revenge on the one person who is the source of all his troubles." she met Oliver's eyes. "And since my father is already dead, I'm the closest he's going to get to that revenge." Oliver dropped the papers and took a step toward her, but she only took a step back. "So what if I'm the one who can end all of this, if I can prevent any more pain and heartache. I have to do it, right?" Oliver took another step forward, grabbing her around the waist before she could pull away again. "I can end this, I can—"

"Stop." Oliver said, pulling her into a tight hug. Katie brought her hands around him as well, dropping her head to his chest. "You can't—"

"I know that." Katie said lifting her head to meet Oliver's eyes. "Everything I told you was true, but surrendering to Slade because the fight is getting tough, shouldn't be an option. Not for me, and not for you."

"Me surrendering could save Thea, you—" he placed a hand on Katie's cheek. "I can't lose either of you."

"And then what? You surrender, and Slade kills you. Slade magically disappears, and then what? In your head, what do you see happening to me, or your sister who would've lost a mother and a brother?" Katie asked. "Look I get you're tired and you want the pain to end, but quitting only means you're a quitter." Katie pulled away from Oliver and walked across the room to the file Laurel had given her. "If I have learned anything from being here—" she grabbed the file and turned back to Oliver. "We are going to be knocked down constantly. At every turn there will be an opponent who is strong or smart and will succeed at knocking us off our game." she smiled as she looked into Oliver's eyes. "What I know about heroes is that they get right back up after being knocked down." she walked over and handed Oliver the file. "You, Oliver Queen, are a hero. You're your sister's hero, you're John and Felicity's hero, my hero—" she watched as he read the files, surprised at what he was read. "Sebastian Blood has just become mayor of this city, he is also an accomplice of Slade Wilson." Oliver's eyes looked up to Katie. "You're this city's hero Liver, and right now it needs you more than ever." Katie saw the wheels turning in the man's head, and the determination strike his features and a smile came to her lips. "See I can have a heart to heart without telling someone to stop being a little bitch." Oliver couldn't help but laugh, before dropping the file back to the desk and reaching for the woman, only for her to pull away which confused him. Suddenly her face grew serious as she looked to him.

"I know I have absolutely no right to say this, and I know I did the exact same thing—" Oliver took a step forward, bringing an arm around her waist and she placed a hand over his chest. "Don't leave without saying goodbye again."

"Ok." Oliver says before leaning in closer, dropping his forehead to hers. "Now I'm going to kiss you." Katie smiled, but didn't protest as his lips found hers.

Lois Lane, star reporter for the Daily Planet, was totally and completely at a loss. She sat in her mess of a room, staring up to a wall of what seemed like a million pieces of a puzzle, and yet none of them were fitting together. There was a sudden knock at her door, and Lois instinctively grabbed her gun.

"Lois it's me!" a voice called from the other side, and Lois quickly placed her gun on the bed before rushing over to open the door. Once she opened the door, she let her eyes roam over the man looking for something, anything.

"What are you—"

"You're not hurt, you haven't been shot—" she met her partners eyes. "And you don't even look like you've had a cold."

"Lois—"

"I'm sorry Clark, I'm still trying to figure out why I haven't seen you in weeks!" Lois snapped turning back into her room and Clark followed behind. "Do you have any idea what has been happening?" she whipped around back to him. "My source uped and disappeared, some psycho bitch from ARGUS showed up and threatened my family, there was a shooting at Moira Queen's rally, before she was killed." Lois pointed at the man who had yet to respond. "And you've been MIA for all of it, so speak, explain yourself."

Clark had practiced his excuse a million times before he got to this point. He repeated the words, over and over again so there would be no hiccups, and yet at this moment none of them were coming out of his mouth. He forgot that he was always such a bad liar when it came to Lois. He always felt like she could see through him.

"Clark Kent if you don't say something, I swear I'm going to punch you." the woman threatened. "I was starting to worry you asshole."

"I'm sorry." Clark finally said, but it didn't seem to put the woman at ease. "I was working another angle." Lois looked at him in confusion. "For the story!"

"What angle?"

"Just investigating some of Jacob's business deals to see if there were anyone there who hated him enough to take their revenge on him after death." Clark said with a shake of his head. "I came up with a dead end." Lois stood there staring at the man, and for a moment Clark thought she'd seen through him once again. "Lois—"

"You're an idiot." the woman said with a shake of her head. "Look Clark, I thought at this point in our partnership you would understand the dynamics of how this works. We're partners, as in a team, as in no solo investigations that makes up go so under the radar that people think we're dead."

"I'm sorry, I just thought I could help in a way that wasn't attacking the man's daughter." Clark sassed and Lois scoffed.

"Well I would have you know that I had a little chat with our doctor friend, and you know what. I think I was right. She does know more than what's she letting on." Lois said before turning back to her own personal wall of Starling's weird. "And I think part of it has to do with—" she pointed to a picture that Clark hadn't seen on the wall before. "One Martin Ellis." she looked over to Clark. "Apparently he was Jacob's personally assistant—"

"He's dead." Clark interrupted. "I looked into him too, before we came here. I found record of him dying in a plane crash."

"I know, but those records were never verified." Lois said turning back to the photograph. "No remains were ever found."

"Lois, I think it's time we give this up." Clark said suddenly and Lois turned back to him. "Each piece of the puzzle we get only leads to a dozen more. We're picking at something that's obviously supposed to be hidden."

"And since when has that ever stopped us? Clark there is something sordid happening in this city, and it's our job to find out what it is and present it to the people." Lois replied.

"Not when it risks our safety, and this—" Clark pointed to the wall. "People being shot and killed and threatened by government officials, that's a big risk."

"I won't let them scare me." Lois said with a shake of her head. "The general didn't raise a quitter."

"No he raised a stubborn woman. Too stubborn for her own good, which is why I called Perry." The woman's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "I told him what's been happening and how we still had no answers. He wants us back in Metropolis by tomorrow." Lois seemed either too shocked or too angry to even speak, she wasn't sure. She shook her head before turning back to her wall. "He says if we're not on a plane headed home, then neither one of us will have jobs." still not a peep from the reporter, which was starting to make even the man of steel nervous. "Lois—"

"I guess you better get those tickets, huh?" Lois said bitterly, not even looking over to the man. Clark sighed before turning and leaving the room, and going to his own. Lois remained in her spot, her eyes darting across the wall, hoping to see a connection somewhere.

Hacking into Sebastian's schedule was child's play, if you asked one Felicity Smoak. The plan was simple, or at least simple for them, while Felicity and John question Blood's head of security, Oliver went straight for the man. As for Katie, she was Oliver's back up. Which she loved by the way. It showed that the man was really growing and seeing her usefulness on the team. The only thing she didn't like was that she had to wait in the car.

"Twinkie—" Oliver warned looking over to the woman who shook her head as she looked out the window. "There can be no surprises. Blood still works with Slade, so there could be a chance—"

"Oliver I know." Katie replied turning to him. "You're afraid that someone in there could grab me and take me to Slade because I'm so helpless."

"I didn't say that!" Oliver argued.

"Are we really having this conversation right now?" Came the voice of John through both of their comlinks. "I get you two have issues, but right now isn't the moment to sort them out."

"You're right, sorry."Oliver said looking over to Katie who only narrowed her eyes at him. "I should get in there." Oliver reached up and pressed the mute button on his com, before reaching over to do the same to Katie's. He leaned in to kiss her, only for her to turn her head and only kiss her cheek. "I love you Twinkie." she turned back to him and he could see her holding back a smile. "But you stay your ass in this car." and with that the man slid out of the car, ignoring the glare he felt on the back of his head.

And so Katie waited...and waited. She looked back to the building, and sighed. She shouldn't want there to be gunfire, or explosions, but she feels that's the only way she would be getting in there.

Oliver sat in a restaurant, his glare fixed on the man sitting in front of him. He'd just revealed that he was the arrow, and that he knew about Sebastian's involvement with Slade, and it didn't seem to faze the man one bit.

"Slade promised me city hall. And he delivered. He makes good on his promises. I understand he made you a promise, too." Blood said, a smirk still firmly on his lips. "How is our dear doctor these days? No one's seen her around much anymore, almost like she's hiding." Oliver lowly growled grabbing the closest weapon he could, which just so happened to be a steak knife on the table. "What are you going to do? Stab the mayor in a crowded restaurant?" the man shook his head and sighed. "It has to be eating away at you. Slade being in this city for so long, me working with him, right under your nose." the man chuckled. "You're really not much of a hero if such things can slip by you so easily. But I guess you had other important things to deal with." the newly appointed Mayor stood to his feet. "What did you call her, wait, yeah Twinkie." he chuckled again with a shake of his head. "Well I thank Twinkie for proving to be the distraction we needed her to be." Blood nodded once more. "It's a new day in Starling City, Oliver. And there's nothing you can do to stop it."

Oliver watched as he pushed in his chair and turned and walked out. He wanted so badly to go after the man, to follow him, but he knew that it was Slade who he should be focused. Oliver stood to his feet and began heading out as well, when his phone rang. He quickly brought the phone to his ear.

"Dig, what did you get?"

"Slade and his men are taking the city tonight." John spoke and Oliver quickened his step.

The moment Oliver stepped back into the car, Katie knew something was off with him. Sure the city was about to erupt in panic as Slade and his men destroyed everything, but there was something else and she just couldn't put her finger on it.

When they arrived back to the lair, there were few words spoken as they began packing up necessary weapons and supplies that they might need to counter Slade's attacks. Felicity sat behind her computer pulling up building plans on her computer. Katie stood off to the side, watching, but not really in the moment. She found herself trying to go over all the information they had, and the opponent they were up against and those were some pretty big odds for success. She glanced over to Laurel who had surprisingly stuck around, staring in a slight state of shock as she watched everyone moving. Her eyes caught Katie's, who gave the woman a sympathetic smile figuring this all was probably still a bit unbelievable.

"Slade's using the sewer system." Felicity spoke bringing their attention to her. "You can drop in at Rock Avenue and then head southeast. The lines converge at Water Street. If Slade's army's underground, that's probably where he'll be."

"Good." Oliver said, figuring if they could catch Slade and his army off guard underground, there would be less causalities. Oliver turned to John. "Let's go." Oliver turned about to get his gear on, when Katie snapped back and went to do the same, only for Oliver to step in front of her. "You're staying here."

"I'm sorry." Katie countered with a quirked brow. "Please tell me you're not doing this now?" she glanced over to John and Felicity who didn't say a word. She shook her head before turning back to Oliver. "This is an army of psychotic criminals souped up on Mirakuru. And there are only four of us. Can you really afford to bench me on this?"

"I don't know, but I am." Oliver stated simply before moving around her to get his gear. He glanced over to John. "You and Felicity pack up the van."

"I want to help." Laurel said suddenly and Oliver looked at her with wide eyes.

"What? No." he said with a shake of his head. "This started with the three of us, and that's what we need to get back to."

"You did not just seriously say that in front of my face." Katie snapped glaring over to the man. "I'm just as much apart of this team as John and Felicity. Why—"

"I'm not arguing about this!" Oliver snapped stalking over to her, and standing right in front of her, his eyes on hers and intensely serious, that Katie took a slight step back. "You're staying here." he looked over to Laurel. "You're going to go to your dad and warn him in case this thing makes it above ground." he looked back over to John and Felicity. "And you two are going to pack up the van." Oliver turned without another word, grabbing his gear before heading to the restroom to change.

"Ok so who was that guy?" Felicity whispered over to John, before they both looked over to Katie who still stood staring wide eyed at the bathroom door. After a moment, Katie turned to Felicity and John.

"We should call Bruce." Katie said, watching Felicity who nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, you're right. This fight is big and we could use all the help that we could get." Felicity replied with a nod. "I can't call him though."

"I'll call him." John says grabbing one of the duffle bags, while Felicity grabbed another. He stopped by Katie on his way out. "I remember you once saying that you'll follow Oliver's orders when you think they're right." Katie turned meeting the man's eyes, with a slight smile before giving the man an firm pat on his shoulder.

"Be careful, listen and focus on everything." Katie said and John simply gave her a nod before heading out the back door. Katie turned to Felicity who walked over to her and held out something to her. Katie looked down to the woman's palm to see the comlink.

"For when you decide to do something stupid." Felicity said and Katie smiled taking the device and sliding it into her pocket.

"Watch our backs." Katie replied, placing a kiss to the woman's cheek before watching the blonde head out the door as well.

"He's scared." Laurel said and Katie turned to the woman who nudged her head toward the bathroom. "No, I think he's terrified." Laurel turned back to Katie. "He uses aggression as a way to hide it, but—"

"I know." Katie replies walking over to the woman. "He's right. If this goes south then we're going to need the SCPD as the second wave of attack." Laurel nodded about to turn and leave, but stopped and looked back to Katie.

"I didn't get it at first." Laurel said and Katie looked at her in confusion. "You and Oliver, I guess I really didn't want to, but it would seem lately I don't really have a choice." Laurel looked back over to the door, the man had disappeared behind. "He's really scared of letting you get close to this. He really does love you." she looked back to Katie. "And you love him."

"More than he probably knows." Katie replied and Laurel simply gave a smile before walking past her out the door as well.

When Oliver finally emerged, he was no longer Oliver, but the Arrow. He glanced up to Katie wordlessly walking over and grabbing his quiver and tossing it over his shoulder. His feet only took a few steps toward the door before he stopped. He cursed himself, because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't completely emerge himself in the Arrow like he wanted...like he needed. There was always the small part that wouldn't let him, that held on firmly to him and he couldn't shake it.

Katie stood there, staring at the back of his head, wondering what was going through his head.

"He said something to you." she finally spoke, and Oliver didn't turn to her. "Blood, back in the restaurant, he said something that changed something. What was it?" Oliver still remained silent and Katie clenched her frustration. "It was about us, because the only time you looked me in the eye was when you told me that you were going to go out there and risk your life and I couldn't be there to help." Oliver finally turned to her, but he didn't move, he knew if he got closer to her that the focus he was gripping for dear life would leave him. "Will you stop staring at me and just speak! I hate when you do that, when you—" Oliver couldn't take it anymore. He dropped his quiver to the floor before reaching up and pulling his hood from his head, and slipping off his mask before stalking over to her and stopping in front of her. She dropped her eyes from his, the intensity, crumbling her insides and threatening the the resolve she was trying to retain.

"I'm prepared for this night to go anyway. I know this is an impossible battle and I know that we're completely outnumbered." Oliver spoke and Katie lifted her eyes to meet his. "I know it all could happen tonight." he placed his hands on her arms, pulling her just a little bit closer to her. "I am not prepared to lose you tonight. That's the one thing I haven't planned on happening, that's not something I can even imagine happening tonight."

"You know I hate that you would rather lock me in a box than trust that I can fend for myself. After all of these months, why can you not see that?" Katie asked and Oliver turned away. "It won't work. You don't get to bark an order and expect me to just follow. This is my team too, this is my family and I will not sit back when you're putting your life on the line. So you want to leave me here, fine, know I won't be far behind." Oliver turned back to the seriousness in her eyes and he smiled because he knew all of this the moment he gave the order. "I am your Guardian and I go where you go." she turned about to change into her own suit, when Oliver suddenly brought his arms around her waist, pulling her back to his chest. His lips pressed against her cheek and Katie fell back into his grasp, her eyes fluttering closed.

"I love you more than you'll ever know." Oliver whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her skin. "And I hope one day you can forgive me for this." Katie was about to turn to him, when she suddenly felt a prick to her neck. Her eyes widened as Oliver pulled the syringe from her neck, and she whipped around to face him, stumbling back as the room seemed to get dimmer.

"What—" her eyes seemed to roll back in her head, before she suddenly collapsed. Oliver quickly moved to catch from hitting the floor, before hoisting her in his arms. He looked down to the woman in his arms as she hung limply, before pressing a kiss to her head.

"Good." a voice spoke from behind him and Oliver turned to see Bruce standing there. "I'm right on time." Oliver glared, but walked over to the man, who looked at Katie, his eyes studying her. "You gave her the right amount?" he looked back to Oliver whose eyes only darkened. "Whatever, hand her over." Bruce held out his arms, but Oliver didn't move as he looked back down to the woman. "You're having second thoughts, I get it, but you and I both know that if you don't want her out there roaming the streets where Slade can find her, then this is what has to happen."

"You're going to take care of her." Oliver stated instead of asking. It meant that there was no question about it. "Get her on that plane, and in the air and get her far away from Starling." he looked back to Bruce. "When she wakes up this should all be over."

"Right." Bruce said sliding his arms underneath Katie to pull her from Oliver's arms, only for the archer to take a step back. "You don't have time to rethink this one Oliver. Time isn't something you have the luxury of wasting, not when your city needs you." Oliver looked back to the man. "Go, protect your city. I got her." Oliver brought his eyes back to Katie for a brief moment, before take a step forward and letting the man pull her from his arms. He moved around the man to pick up his quiver and arrows, not daring to look back. He headed for the door, but stopped before he could actually leave.

"Don't answer your phone." Oliver said, his voice now the modulated voice of the Arrow. "John or Felicity may call you, but don't answer."

Bruce stood there, unable to agree to such a command in the event that Felicity did call him. So he didn't say anything, and Oliver still just stood there and he knew it wasn't an answer he was waiting for. "Don't look back, trust me." Bruce said and he heard the man scoff before finally stepping out the door.

Oliver walked out to his bike, which was parked next to the van where John and Felicity stood waiting.

"I expected more yelling." Felicity said meekly, but Oliver's serious demeanor never even waivered. "So what's the plan?"

"We're going to blow them up." Oliver spoke before climbing on his bike. "Follow behind me, and stay close." and with that the man reved his engine before pulling off. Felicity and John shared a look, before looking back to the club.

"C'mon." John said knowing there was no time to waste with questions both of them had at the moment.

Bruce sat in the comfortable seats of his private plane, awaiting take off. His eyes stayed out the window, scanning the dark airfield. His eyes turned to the woman across from him, who laid, taking up two seats.

"You're going to go ballistic, aren't you?" Bruce said before glancing down to his watch. The moment Oliver called him and told him of this plan, he'd already put things in motion. There was a schedule that was supposed to be follow, and right now it wasn't. He stood to his feet and walked down to the cockpit to question the pilot, but the moment he walked inside he knew that wouldn't be happening. Bruce was met with the sight of the pilot in his chair, unconscious on the controls. "What the—" it suddenly struck Bruce what this could be and he quickly turned and ran back to Katie, only to come to a sliding halt when he realized she wasn't alone.

"Mr. Wayne."

"Martin." Bruce growled looking between the man and the gun he held firmly. "Since when are you the guy behind the gun?"

"Well I've been tossed into too many situations that would've turned out a lot differently if I were the guy behind the gun." Martin said before turning to Katie. "You know this is kidnapping? Taking a woman from her home—" he turned back to Bruce. "She doesn't leave Starling."

"Why?" Bruce asked. "What's this big plan you're trying to carry out?" Martin simply smiled before turning his head slightly.

"You can come now." Martin spoke, and soon a large man, dressed in black tactical gear came from somewhere, and walked over to hoist Katie into his arms. Bruce took a a step, but Martin rose his gun a little bit more. "I wouldn't Mr. Wayne. You have come too far to die like your parents." soon the large man began walking toward the exit of the plane.

"If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me, because I'm not letting you leave with her!" Bruce snapped taking another step forward.

"Don't say you weren't warned—" Martin's finger was about to pull the trigger, when he suddenly turned to the side, as if someone were speaking to him. "Are you sure?" Martin dropped his gun to his side, and turned, Bruce following the man's gaze just as someone stepped on the plane he seriously didn't expect.

"Jacob." Bruce breathed in disbelief. Jacob simply gave Bruce a nod before turning to the man holding his daughter.

"Lay her in my car." Jacob ordered and the man simply nodded before heading off. "You can leave now Martin."

"Sir, are you sure?" Martin asked turning to the man and Jacob sighed.

"You know I'm more sure I might throw something at you, if you keep questioning my decisions." Jacob said with a pointed glare. "Now leave." Martin didn't say anything before walking from the plane, leaving Bruce and Jacob alone.

"How are you..." Bruce continued to stare at the man in disbelief. "Ra's?" Jacob simply laughed at the insinuation.

"No, I know the repercussions of Ra's and his little pit." Jacob replied with a shake of his head.

"Then how are you—" Bruce started and stopped with a sudden realization struck him. "You faked it." his confused gaze looked back to Jacob. "How did you...the doctor, he wasn't working for Malcolm he was working for you?"

"No, Dr. Trent was Malcolm's boy. The moment I was brought into the hospital it was his job to make sure I never walked out so I made sure I had someone on the inside as well. Sweet old woman, no one would even look twice at."

"Why?" Bruce asked finally realizing that was the question he really needed answered.

"That's not your question to ask Bruce." Jacob said with a slight shake of his head. "It's hers. And when that moment comes, she is the person who will hear it." Jacob began turning.

"Wait, where are you taking her?" Bruce asked and Jacob slightly chuckled before glancing back to the man.

"It's late Bruce, I'm taking my daughter home."


	24. 'Til Death

**Chapter 24**

**'Til Death**

_"In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten,_

_then he who continues the attack wins." _

_-Ulysses S. Grant_

* * *

_In all of her fifteen years of life, Katie doesn't think any moment could compare to the one that she has found herself. Laying on her bed, in her dim lit room, Oliver Queen's arm wrapped around her, while her head rests on his chest. She has absolutely no illusions about the moment. He felt sorry for her, this was pure pity on his part, and she hates it, but there was no amount of pride that would tear her from this moment. For a few brief moments, she found herself pretending. This day wasn't the day she buried her mother. It was just a day, where her and her very good friend, who she happens to have a crush on, is just laying cuddled in her bed. _

_They were silent because neither had anything that needed to be said, and that was fine. It was perfect actually. Until there was a knock on her door, and both suddenly jumped from the bed to their feet ending up on either side, their eyes on the door as it opened. _

_"Well there you two are." Jacob said with a slight smile as he looks from Katie to Oliver. _

_"Sorry, sir we were just—" Oliver soon found himself in a very familiar conversation of having to come up with an excuse when a parent suddenly appears. _

_"Don't worry Oliver." Jacob said glancing over to his daughter, who turns away from his eyes. "Everyone was leaving and your parents were looking for you, but I knew you'd somehow ended up here." _

_"Yeah, I should go." Oliver says looking over to Katie. "I'm actually late, I'm supposed to be meeting some friends." Katie glanced over to him with a quirked brow and he opened his mouth to say something, but remembered the parent in the room and soon turned back to him. "So I should get going." he began walking toward the door, but stopped and looked back to Katie. _

_"Go, your real friends are waiting for you." she said gesturing toward the door. _

_"Twinkie—" _

_"It's alright Oliver." Jacob says placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Go ahead." Oliver simply sighed, but nodded before finally leaving the room. _

_"Can you close my door on your way out?" Katie said walking over to sit behind her desk, and flipping open her laptop. _

_"No." Jacob said and Katie turned to look back at him as he walked over and picked her jacket from the floor before tossing it over to her. "C'mon, I want to take you somewhere." he didn't wait for her to agree or disagree, before turning and heading out the door. _

_"Where are we going!" she called slipping on her jacket and heading out the door, following behind the man. _

_Katie wasn't sure what this was supposed to accomplish, but sitting on a park bench in front of a pond just didn't do anything for her. _

_"How long do we have to sit here?" she asked over to her father who sat beside her just staring out at the water. _

_"You know I thought I was going to have your mother with me to deal with your angsty teenage years." Jacob said and Katie turned away swallowing the lump in her throat at her father's mention of her mother. "But I don't." he looked over to his daughter and she turned her eyes to him. "Right now and for the next couple of years, it's just going to be you and me. We gotta stick together." Jacob held up his fist and Katie looked over and rolled his eyes. "Don't leave me hanging." Katie let out a snort before finally fist bumping with her dad. _

_"So why are we here?" Katie asked. _

_"I brought your mother here one day," he looked over to his daughter and smiled. "When she was pregnant with you actually." he turned back to the water, as the setting sun reflected off of it perfectly. "She was rubbing her belly, when she suddenly just said the name Katherine." he looked back to Katie, bringing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer and she simply dropped her head to his shoulder. "This is where it really became just the three of us." Jacob placed a kiss to the top of his daughter's head. _

It was rare that Katie actually had a nice dream. One that she didn't want to vomit or pull her hair out when waking up. So when she opened her eyes, there was actually a moment of relief, that came out as a sigh. That relief only lasted about five seconds, because soon the memories of talking with Oliver, and then him injecting her with something came back to her. Then there was the fact that she was lying on her bed, in her room that confused the hell out of her.

"I have never believed it more than I have today." A voice suddenly spoke and Katie shot up from the bed, to see the man she'd never thought she'd see in her bedroom.

"Martin—"

"Love can cause people to do crazy things." the man said with a shake of his head as he sat in the chair beside her window. The room was dark, but she could make him out from the little moonlight that was shining in.

"Where is Oliver?" Katie asked and the man simply chuckled.

"Probably out there somewhere trying to fight Goliath with a slingshot." Martin replied with a shake of his head. "Oliver drugged you dear, before handing you over to Bruce Wayne who was going to take you back with him to Gotham until this was all over." Katie quirked a brow before looking around her room once again. "But of course we stopped it."

"Why?" Katie asked turning to the man. "Why are you here?"

"There's a fight going on, outside these walls as we speak." Martin replied standing to his feet. "And the thing is, Oliver isn't even completely sure why he's fighting."

"My father sent Slade to that island, he's the reason all of this is even happening."

"Your father signed a dotted line that sent a soldier on a rescue mission. There was no way of knowing all that would happen—"

"Except he planned on sending me and Oliver to that same island, so what was the logic with that decision? What did he see happening?"

Martin simply shook his head and sighed. "You can't ask the dead questions. If you could, a lot of people would sleep easy at night. At the moment dear, you don't have the time to ask questions." and with that Martin walked from the room, and Katie stood to her feet to follow him, but he closed the door to her bedroom, and she stopped moving. There hanging on the door was a garment bag with a sticky note. She reached for the note, before walking over and turning on the light to read it.

_Take it. Use it._

Katie walked back over to the bag and unzipped it. It seemed to be some kind of leather jumpsuit, with a Kevlar vest. She pulled out a mask, that was yellow and seemed to have much more distinction than the mask she'd gotten from Sara.

"I guess I'm joining that fun." Katie muttered before pulling the suit from the bag.

She could feel it, the moment it started happening. That darkness she tries so hard to suppress moving around under her skin at the thought of the impending battle she's about to enter. She feels it as she slips on the suit, and slides the mask on her face. It's practically buzzing as she slides her katana behind her in the sheath on her back. Katie slips two nine mils in holsters on her hips, no rock salt this time. After strapping her knives to the holster around her vest, she heads out the back door, stopping at the sight of a pretty tricked out motor bike, with a note on the seat. She picks it up and reads it.

_"Thought you would need a ride."_

Katie scoffed before balling up the note, and sliding on the bike and cranking the engine. She placed her hands on the gears, and without hesitation she was off. As she drove, Katie grabbed the comlink Felicity had gave her earlier, and finally placed it in her ear.

"Hello?" came the very confused voice of Felicity Smoak.

"So, what I miss?" Katie asked as she sped down the dark streets.

"Katie? Where the hell have you been?!"

"Long story that ends with the death of Oliver Queen by my hands." Katie replied. "So from the anxiety in your voice, I'm guessing we haven't beaten the bad guys yet."

"Not quite, well if you're free, John could use some help." Felicity replied before giving Katie the location where the man was currently in a very brutal fight with Isabel Rochev.

It would seem that Katie was right on time for the fight, because the moment she pulled up, Isabel had a sword held above John about to stab him. Katie quickly hopped from her bike, pulling free two knives and sending them straight into the woman's back. Isabel stumbled, but it didn't knock her down. Her dark eyes turned to Katie, more angry than pained. Katie looked the woman over, who was dressed in a leather suit, and mask that was similar to Slade's

"You have absolutely no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment." Katie spoke, the tingling moving through her body seeming to become more intense. "John, go!" John stood to his feet, but didn't move. "John—"

"I'm not leaving." John said and Katie glanced over to him with a smirk.

"Suit yourself." she replied as Isabel pulled free a second sword, now having two in her hands as she inched toward Katie.

"You know I actually liked Jeremy." Isabel taunted as she inched a bit closer. "Sure he had a bit of a complex, but who doesn't these days. All he wanted was what was owed to him. What your father stole, and what you kept from him. And when he tried to get it back, you killed him. Your own flesh and blood." Katie's jaw clenched at the woman's words, her fingers twitching at her sides. "Don't worry, tonight is all about justice, and wrongs being corrected." Isabel took a final step, placing herself in front of Katie, bringing them only inches apart.

"Thank you." Katie spoke after the woman's speech. Isabel quirked a brow in confusion, when suddenly Katie pulled one of her gun's from her holster, pulling the trigger the moment her target was set. There was no chance for Isabel to even act before there was a single gun shot before Katie and John watched her fall to the ground, a hole in her head. Katie holstered the gun before looking over to the wide eyes of John Diggle. She placed a hand to the comlink in her ear. "Rochev is no longer a problem. Where is Oliver?"

"He went down to the tunnels to set the explosions, but I haven't heard from him since." Felicity replied. Katie turned her back, closing her eyes not wanting her fears and anxiety to take control at the moment. " Katie—"

"Felicity come pick up John." Katie says before turning back to John himself.

"Where are you going?" John asked and Katie shook her head as she scanned the area. "If he was still in those tunnels when the explosions went off, then there is a chance—"

"No, there isn't." Katie stated forcibly, before turning back and heading for her bike. The moment she slid on, Felicity was just pulling up and John got inside.

"You want to let us know what the plan is?" John ask through the comlink.

"When I find out, I'll let you know." Katie replies cranking the engine, and pulling off. "You two keep trying to get in contact with the Arrow!"

"Katie, wait, I got a call from Cisco. They finally have the cure." Felicity said through the comlink and Katie felt a bit of relief.

"Good, get it, first get it to Roy, and then think up a way for mass exposure in case Oliver wasn't able to stop Slade's men." Katie replied before suddenly realizing something. "Wait, Felicity, you remember that guy, Clark Kent, I gave you his number to save."

"Yeah, why?"

"I need you to call him, tell him what's happening and that we could use his help."

"How can some reporter from Metropolis help us?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Katie simply countered.

The battle was far from over and Oliver had already dug himself from sewers, which would have been fine if he also didn't have Laurel to worry about. She showed up to help, even after he ordered her to stay away. They barely made it out of the sewers in one piece.

He'd gotten a call from John, and they were now on their way to the meeting spot. Laurel glanced over to him, and noticed how unaffected he was after everything they'd just been through.

"I'm sorry." Laurel said suddenly and Oliver looked over to her in confusion.

"I told you it doesn't matter now. We made it out alive and that's all that matters." Oliver replied turning away from her to keep an eye out.

"Not about showing up tonight. Whether you believe it or not, I did help you, even if it was just a bit of distraction." Laurel said looking over to the man. "No, I'm sorry about me not being supportive of you and Katie." Oliver glanced over to her once again, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. "I mean at first I was confused, a little suspicious—"

"A little?" Laurel sent a glare toward him, but continued with her point.

"You know it was all your fault." Laurel replied and Oliver looked even more confused. "If you were just honest—"

"Hey, I told you how I felt about her—"

"Not from the beginning." Laurel said stopping and Oliver did the same. "All those years ago, when I'd catch you looking at her, and you'd make up some excuse about how it was nothing, but it wasn't nothing." she shook her head. "I can't believe I couldn't see it."

"Laurel—"

"I'm not upset Ollie. We're so past all of that now, but when I think about all the times you were off and I had no idea where you were or who you were with, and oh—" she turned to him with a pointed finger. "That day of her mother's funeral, and no one could find you for hours, you were with her weren't you?" Oliver silently turned away, giving an answer to the question. "You know what I don't get, I know you didn't give a shit what Tommy or those other jocks thought of you. Plus you were Oliver Queen, anything you did was perfection, so admitting feelings for Katie probably wouldn't have hurt your status, so why hide it?"

"Laurel right now isn't the time to have this conversation." Oliver replied before continuing his walk. Laurel stood there for a moment, before running to catch up to him.

"It was never about Oliver Queen afraid for his popularity by admitting he was in love with the uncool girl." Laurel stated seeing the tension in the man's features as she spoke. "Ollie, what—" Laurel's words were cut off by a van that suddenly pulled up on the side of them. They both turned to see the door slide open, and appear John and Felicity.

"You ok?" John asked looking between Oliver and Laurel who both looked a bit beat up.

"Yeah. You?" Oliver asked looking from John to Felicity for answers. John and Felicity shared a look before turning back to Oliver. "What is it?"

"Isabel attacked John." Felicity said with a nod, nervously glancing over to John. "He was keeping his own, but she was hyped on Mirakuru, and it was getting bad...really bad...like he probably wasn't going to make it bad."

"Felicity!" Oliver snapped wanting her to finally get to the point.

"Katie showed up." John stated without hesitation. "And I'm glad she did, because if she didn't, I wouldn't be here right now." They all looked to Oliver, whose mouth slightly parted and a bewildered look came over his face. "Oliver, did you hear—"

"Where is she now?" Oliver asked and John shrugged.

"We told her that we weren't able to contact you after the explosion. She told us to keep trying to contact you, before she drove off." John replied and Oliver closed his eyes letting out a deep sigh. "Why do you seemed surprised by all of this?"

"I told her to stay low on this." Oliver grit through his teeth.

"Yeah, which everyone present knew wasn't going to happen." John said still noting the man's reactions.

"What did you do?" Felicity finally asked and Oliver opened his eyes and looked over to her.

"Right now, we have more pressing matters." Oliver said walking to the edge of the bridge and looking out to the city. The sounds of sirens and helicopters blaring around them. "Slade's army. Has about 50 men, all like him."

"They're everywhere." Diggle said walking over beside him.

"We have to stop them."

"We may have a way." Felicity chirped in taking a step forward and Oliver turned to her. "STAR Labs called. They have a cure. There's a courier in route."

"Where is it?" Oliver asked and Felicity in turned pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number to get an answer to that question. Oliver turned back to look out to the city.

"She killed her." John muttered over to Oliver. "Shot right to the head. No hesitation, or even a glimmer of guilt." Oliver turned to the man. "Should we be worried about her being out there alone?" Oliver didn't give an answer, simply turning back to his city.

Katie was lost. Not physically. Physically she knew exactly where she was, which was standing on the edge of a pond she hadn't visited in years. She heard the sounds of sirens, and looked up to the helicopters and at the moment she was at a loss.

"There are no breaks, no breathers, no time to not be doing something." Katie spoke out loud. She didn't care that she was alone, or that she probably looked crazy. She looked out to the water. "What do I do?" she remembers that evening sitting with her father, and him telling her that this is where they became a family."Mom?" she let her eyes look over the water. "Dad?" she needed something, some kind of direction and whenever she came here she always got it. The only answer she got came in the form of a throaty laughter that she hadn't heard in a while. She turned her head, and there it was. The hallucination she believed finally had left her.

_"Mommy and daddy can't help you now." _Lian spoke and Katie turned to him, looked right at him as if he were really there. "_But they don't need to be. All of the things that have happened to you, the things you have done should've ensured that." _his eyes began looking up as another helicopter flew over head. _"Your city is on the brink of destruction—"_ he looked down once again meeting her eyes. "_Stop stopping and do something." _

Katie stood there wondering if that was what she'd been waiting for. At the moment there was no time to question the things that made no sense, and so she turned and went back to her bike and slid on.

She placed a hand on her comlink.

"Felicity, have you made contact with Oliver?" she spoke and for a moment, there was no reply. "Felicity—"

"_Where are you?"_ came another distinctive voice. One that belonged to the man she'd been really wanting to see.

"Are you alright?" she asked instead of giving an answer to his question.

"_Tell me where—"_

"I think right now, you and I probably shouldn't come in to contact with each other. I mean we wouldn't want any more people getting drugged now would we?" she replied cranking the engine to her bike. "Felicity told you about the cure?"

"_Yeah, but the courier who has the cure has been attacked, and is in an overturned car on fourth street."_ Oliver replied. "_We're on our way."_

"I'm closer, I can—"

"_No, you will wait for us._" Oliver ordered.

"Arrow, the moment you injected me with a sedative was the moment I stopped taking your orders. You don't want me on the team, then fine, but it's not stopping me from helping my city." Katie said speeding down the street.

Katie had turned a sharp corner, going as fast as she could when suddenly she spotted a familiar white van on it's side, smoke coming from the hood. "No." Katie saw two men in masks, heading toward the van and she reached for one of her guns and began shooting. The streets were barely clear, and she knew at some point she was going to have to get off the bike, but she kept shooting until the last possible moment and she jumped from the bike before it crashed into another car.

Katie hit the concrete hard, finding it nearly impossible to even move to pick herself up. She heard impending footsteps and grasp the gun in her hand and jerking herself up and aiming. Her eyes saw Oliver who stopped and held up his hands. "I should shoot you." she shook her head before sliding her gun back into her holster as he walked over to try and help her to her feet, but she pushed away his hand and grimaced but stood on her own. She looked over to see John carrying Felicity in his arms, just as the van exploded, with Slade's soldiers along with it. Katie walked over to John, to look over Felicity who was still unconscious.

"She's fine, just passed out." John says as they continued walking.

They all walked, silently as they moved as quickly as they could to get to the courier. Felicity had let out a moan, before finally slipping open her eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" Katie asked walking over to the woman in John's arms.

"Yeah, head hurts like a bitch." Felicity said placing a hand on her head. "I can walk though." John carefully placed the woman on her feet before she suddenly threw her arms around Katie in a hug. "Glad you're back. I like it better when we're all together."

"So do I, but others feel different." Katie said as they pulled from the hug and looked down to Oliver who simply continued walking.

"He may not say it, but he's glad you're here too." Felicity said and Katie just shook her head as they followed.

"Where is he?!" Oliver asked turning to Felicity who pulled her phone from her pocket. They were on fourth street, searching for the man.

"The cell phone GPS says he should be within a five hundred foot radius." Felicity replied. "I'm going to call him." They all spread out searching for the man who should be near. Oliver's eyes were scanning the area, when they happened upon Katie, finally taking in her appearance. He was just now realizing the new suit she wore, and the bright yellow mask on her face. More questions began coming to him, and at the top of the list was how could Bruce let this happen. "That's not us." they all turned to Felicity who begin spinning around with wide eyes when suddenly there was an audible gunshot. They all turned and began running toward where the sound had came from.

They found the car, and the now dead courier. They didn't find the cure.

"It's gone!" Oliver snapped.

"What now?" Felicity asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Well standing in the middle of the street probably isn't smart." Katie says glancing around not liking how open they were. "We need to find shelter."

"The Clocktower." Oliver spoke. "It's just a couple of blocks down. C'mon."

Katie went to the roof of the clocktower the moment they arrived. She didn't know if it was demented to want to see what was happening, but to her it was motivation. They needed a plan, action, they needed to do something or their whole city was going to go up in flames. She shook her head before turning and walking back inside, right in the middle of a very intense conversation.

"There is no other way!" Oliver snapped. He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his emotions, turning back to John. "The Foundry's been compromised and we need to get Roy out of there."

"I'm on it." John says before heading out.

"Bruce hasn't answered and I'm starting to get worried." Felicity says pulling out her cell phone. "I'm just going to—" the woman also steps from the room and Oliver finally turns to Katie who slips off her mask and in turn he pulls off his hood.

"I didn't know." Oliver said suddenly, and Katie kept quiet, unsure what he was talking about. "It was years ago, I was a completely different person. And I had no idea that something like this was even possible. I couldn't have imagined." he took a few steps toward her. "When I came back, I made a vow to myself that nothing like the Undertaking would ever happen again."

"Oliver, this isn't your fault." Katie said almost pleading with the man to believe it.

"Yes it is." the man said with a shake of his head. "Yes, it is. I have failed this city. Yao Fei. Shado. Tommy. My father, my mother, your father." he met her eyes. "All that I have ever wanted to do is honor those people." Katie took a firm step forward, making the distance between them nearly obsolete.

"You're going to make me do this, when I'm still very pissed at you, but fine, whatever." Katie said placing her hand on his chest, feeling the thump of his heart underneath her fingers. She looked up meeting his eyes. "The only way you can dishonor anyone of those people is to stop fighting and you're not done. We still need you, this city still needs you and yes Oliver Queen I still need you in this fight. And the only way you're going to win is if you stop being a little bitch!" Oliver was feeling an array of emotions that were tearing his insides to shreds, and yet this moment he just had to smile. The hand on his chest turned into a fist. "Every last person who has thought they could take this city, you have stopped them, you have fought with everything you've had and you won, just like you will with Slade."

"I don't know how."

"Neither do I, but I know three things in this moment." Katie said taking both of his hands in hers, their fingers intertwining. "You are never alone, I believe in you and—" she stood on the tips of her toes, leaning into him, and he did the same, his arms wrapping around her. "And I love you. Never forget that part." Oliver leaned into kiss her, but Katie pulled back, turning to walk away. "Despite all of that, you did drug me and—" Oliver caught her arm and pulled her back to him, before slamming his lips into her.

"Yell at me later." he muttered against her lips.

"Don't worry I will." she muttered back as he deepened the kiss.

When John arrived to the lair, he expected to find only Roy, but he should've known better. The moment he walked in, well rushed in, he found Ethan picking the man up, and placing him on a gurney. "Ethan?" John spoke, and Ethan turned to the man with wide eyes.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" Ethan asked looking around the man for the others. "Have you seen what's happening out there?"  
  
"Yeah, why do you think you haven't seen us? We’ve been out there trying to get a handle on this." John replied walking over to the man. "What are you doing?"

"I was going to get him out of here. I figured if the people who did this to him are out there roaming the streets, that he's probably not safe here alone. I was just going to take him to the hospital." Ethan said strapping Roy to the table. "Where's Kit and the others?"

"Another hideout." John said looking down to Roy. "Oliver sent me here to get Roy, because this place wasn't safe anymore."

"And then what?" Ethan asked pointing to the bag of venom still connected to Roy's arms. "He literally has like maybe a couple of hours of that before he's up and joining his crazy army comrades."

"Maybe not." John said. "The guys over at STAR labs finished the cure."

"Really?" Ethan said pulling out his cell phone only finding it glitching on and off. "Oh, they probably called but this thing has been being a little bitch all day." he shook his head before turning back to John. "Well good, let's go get him this cure."

"Well the thing is, the courier delivering it was attacked, and the cure was stolen."

"Seriously?" Ethan asked with a shake of his head. "This kid can't catch a break. Is there a plan to get it back."

"Yeah, I just don't know what it is yet." John replied. "You still have your pedophile van?"

"Look I got it for dirt cheap, so the windows are tinted and the paints chipping, it gets me from A to B." Ethan said as he began pushing Roy's gurney toward the back exit.

Katie, Oliver and Felicity were all playing a very torturous waiting game for John to return with Roy. Katie stood near the window, looking out able to hear distance cries, and screams. She couldn't take it anymore.

"What do we know about Slade?" Katie said suddenly turning back Oliver and Felicity who looked at her with confusion. "We're missing a true motive here. Unless total destruction of this city is really what he wants, which I don't think it is."

"To hurt me, revenge." Oliver spoke. "He blames me for killing the woman he loves."

"This seems deeper than that." it was Felicity who spoke. "Hurt you, hurt this city, literally tear it apart, there are deeper feelings here." she looked over to Katie. "Your dad."

"Sent Slade to Lian Yu to retrieve someone named Yao Fei." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "Why him, I don't know? I would have to ask my father that, and since he's dead the only person I could ask never gives me answers, left after giving me this suit and a new bike."

"Martin." Oliver said looking over to her. "He took you from Bruce?"

"Wait, you were with Bruce?" Felicity asked turning to Katie who simply nodded before looking over to Oliver. Felicity turned her confused stare to Oliver as well. "John has been trying to call Bruce for hours, and nothing. I was getting—" the woman let out a deep breath. "What did you do?"

"Yeah Liver, tell her what you did." Katie added and Oliver sent a pointed look her way.

"Now's not the time." Oliver says avoiding the question when suddenly a phone rings. They all look around, and Felicity spots the ringing phone before picking it up.

"Oliver—" she glances over to the man. "This is your phone." she handed Oliver the phone, and the man glanced down to see that it was Sebastian Blood calling. Oliver stared at the phone for a few moments, unsure if he should answer it or not. Katie walks over to see the screen and her eyes widen at the name.

"Just do it." she says and Oliver glances over to her for a moment before finally answering the phone and bringing it to his ear. Felicity and Katie watch the man closely, trying to follow the conversation with only one side. Felicity walks up to stand beside Katie, lightly nudging her arm.

"Is Bruce alright?" she whispers and Katie isn't sure what she should say. She doesn't even remember being with Bruce, and she has no idea what Martin did to take her away from him.

"This is Bruce Wayne." Katie replied with a light smile. "He's probably waiting somewhere to make a grand entrance." Suddenly Oliver is off the phone and looking to them. "What did he say?"

"He wants to give us the cure." Oliver replied, both Katie and Felicity looking expectantly surprised.

"Why?"

"Something happened. He says he sees who Slade really is, and now he wants to save the city from him."

"Do you think we should trust him?" Felicity asked and Oliver simply shrugged.

"We don't have a lot of other options at the moment." Oliver replied.

Soon they heard the sound of voices and they all turn to see John and Ethan pushing Roy inside on a gurney. "What is he doing here?" Oliver's eyes looked over to Ethan who didn't even pay attention to the man as he moved Roy.

"He was with Roy when I showed up. He was going to moving him to the hospital when none of us showed up after Slade's men came out."

"Well he can go home now, it's too dangerous for him here." Oliver said and that's when Ethan finally looked over to him.

"No." Ethan says, and Oliver's eyes darken before he stalks over to him. "Roy needs a doctor and—"

"And he has one." Oliver says glancing over to Katie

"No he has a doctor, whose also a hero." Ethan replied looking over to Katie. "And no offense Kit, but that's not what Roy needs right now." he looked back to Oliver. "And it's not what you need right now." he pointed toward the window, and shook his head. "Not when there's an army of freakishly strong dudes trying to tear apart this city." The doctor met Oliver's eyes, not showing an ounce of fear or hesitation. "You need every last bit of help you can get, and I'm one of them so whatever it is about me that you just don't like, get over it. I'm helping, and there's really nothing you can do about it." And with that Ethan went about getting Roy set up. Oliver stood there wanting to yell at the doctor, but he couldn't because despite what he thought of the man, Ethan was right. They were fighting a tough battle, and he couldn't afford losing people he needed.

"How much venom is left?" Oliver asked looking over to the doctor who glanced up to the bag.

"Two hours maybe." Ethan replied turning back to he man. Oliver turned his eyes to Roy and knew he had no other choice and so he grabbed his bow and turned to John.

"Let's go." he turned to Ethan and Felicity. "You two will stay here with Roy." and then he turned to Katie who awaited his orders for her. "You're with me." Katie smiled slightly but nodded before grabbing her mask and nudging Ethan on her way out, giving him a wink before she gathers her own weapons.

"Guys—" Felicity spoke before they left. "Are we sure this isn't a trap?" they all looked to each other with a shake of their head. "Yeah, well if you guys don't come back alive, I'm going to be really pissed." Katie walked over to the woman, with a slight smile. "I'm serious."

"I know Smoaks, don't worry." Katie replied before glancing over to Ethan. "We'd never let you suffer that man's presence for too long."

The smell of blood sailed through the air the moment they stepped through the doors of city hall. Bodies laid on the floor, and they all stepped over them carefully. When they reached the Mayor's office, they saw the body of a woman laying on the floor dead, and Blood standing near the window looking at the scene he helped create.

"As a young boy, I was plagued by nightmares." Sebastian spoke, knowing the three people behind him were waiting for him to make the wrong move. It didn't matter anymore, because he needed them the understand. "Every night, I would wake up in a cold sweat, frightened and alone. It was my father's face that haunted me." he turned to them and they saw the skull mask in his hands as he held it up. "And this is how I saw him. The embodiment of desperation and despair. I made this mask to conquer my fears. " he brought his eyes back to them. "And remind myself why I fight, every day, to give this city's most desperate a chance." he turned to Oliver who'd watched every move he made, waiting, his bow held firmly in his hand. "All I ever wanted to do was help people, Oliver."

"Then help me believe." Oliver spoke. "Where is the cure?"

"Slade Wilson will not rest until he honors that promise he made you."

"I won't be easy to kill once we level the playing field." Oliver replied and Sebastian shook his head slightly before looking over to Katie.

"Your father started this doctor." the Mayor replied, and Katie stood a bit straighter. She assumed he knew who she was behind the mask at this point, but it still made her uneasy. "There are no two people he hates more than the man who took the love of his life, and the daughter of the man who placed him in hell." Blood turned back to Oliver. "You still think this is about you, but it isn't. He isn't interested in killing you...not yet. He wants to take everything and everyone you love first." Sebastian turned back to Katie. "He wants her. She's the stone that can kill two birds." he began walking from around his desk, and everyone stood a bit straighter, gripping their weapons a bit tighter. They all seemed to relax when they noticed the briefcase in his hand. "I hope you can beat him with this." he extended the case to Oliver. "For all our sakes." Oliver quickly took the case, and took a slight step away from the man.

"And when this is over, I promise you I will do everything in my power to rebuild Starling City. And I won't just make it what it was. I will make it better. Like I always planned." Sebastian spoke and they all looked at him like he was crazy.

"You seriously believe that you could be the mayor after all of this is over?" Katie asked and the man turned to her. "That they would let you be mayor?"

"Why not?" he asked looking between the faces in front of him."No one knows that I've done anything except try to save this city. And if you tell anyone about my mask, I will tell them about yours."

"At some point all masks have to come off." Katie replied glancing over to Oliver and John before glancing back to Sebastian. "But I figure we won't have to tell anyone anything." she turned and walked out of the office, John behind her. Katie figured Slade didn't take well to traitors, and would take care of Sebastian himself.

"Do what you have to, Sebastian." Oliver said finally before turning and following the others.

There was a room in a very secret government facility that housed a television screen that was currently playing the disastrous events happening in Starling City.

"I expected this to be over by now." Waller spoke from her chair. She'd been in the room alone, but felt the new presence when he entered. "You had me convinced that Oliver and your daughter—"

"Do not patronize me Amanda."

"And do not lie to me Jacob!" the woman snapped angrily standing to her feet and turning to the man. "Let's not forget the chain of command here, and since you're dead—"

"She needs to know that she can do this,win, and right now—"

"Right now I do not have the time or the patience to wait for your daughter to grow a pair, and take out a terrorist." Waller replied, turning and pointing to the television. "Do you see that? That is something I can not let get out of Starling and so it's time I do what I should've done a long time a go."

"Amanda—" before the man could speak, Waller had already picked up her phone and was giving the order. Once she was done, she hung up the phone and looked over to the man. "A drone, really?"

"If your daughter needs as big of a push as you think, then this could be it. Either way, Slade and his army are not getting out of that city." Waller replied and Jacob shook his head before turning and storming out of her office. The moment he was out of her office, Jacob walked over to Martin who was waiting.

"Give me your phone." Jacob ordered and Martin quickly complied before Jacob turned and stormed down the hall, dialing a number as he did. Once someone answered he brought the phone to his ear. "It's me, I—" the person on the other end wouldn't let him talk. "I know you're still upset, but trust me when I say that it doesn't matter any more. There have been a change of plans, and she is going to need your help. Waller is ordering a drone strike and—" the call ended with a click and Jacob let out an annoyed breath before giving the phone back to Martin.

"A drone strike?" Martin asked as the pair stepped onto an elevator. "Who do you know who could help with that?"

"The only person who can." Jacob replied looking to the elevator doors.

Felicity paced nervously, her eyes glancing out the window ever so often hoping to see her friends.

"She has you guys doing that too." Ethan said and the woman looked over to him. "The pacing. She used to do it when diagnosing a patient. She said it helped her think, it just drove me nuts, much like it is now."

"Well I'm sorry. But my friends have probably just walked into a trap, and I'm here with absolutely no idea what to do next." Felicity replied, never deviating from her stride. "I mean we're not that lucky that one of the bad guys would have a change of heart, and hand us the one thing we need to stop the whole evil plan, are we?"

"Maybe, I don't know." Ethan said with a shrug. "What I do know is that three of the most determined, strong people I know walked out of here, and I have faith that they're gonna fight whatever to come back." Felicity quirked a brow over to the man, finally stopping her pace. "What?"

"That was such and unlike you thing to say." Felicity replied when suddenly her phone starts ringing. She slips it from her pocket and looks down, eyes widening at the name before quickly answering. "Hello? Bruce, where—" she lifted her head and listened before nodding and ending the call. "Ethan, I need some air, so I'm going to the roof." Felicity didn't give the man a chance to question her, or try to talk her out of it before rushing out of the room. The woman moved fast for someone who was in a car accident, her feet quickly climbing the stairs before pushing though the door to the roof a smile finding her lips as she laid eyes on Bruce, no the Batman. She ran toward him, but stopped just a few feet away, the smile washing from her face instantly. It because she remembered. She remembered that she and Bruce were no longer...anything. "How did you find us?"

"Wayne Industries tech is still top notch Ms. Smoak." his gravelly voice replied. "Robins—"

"She's with John and Oliver. They're hopefully getting the cure that can save Roy and stop Slade's war before it's too late." she turned away slightly, fighting the urge to move closer to him, to touch him, when she so badly just wanted his arms around her. "You should—" she turned back to him. "Be out there with the police, trying to push back on some of their attacks."

"What happened to your head?" he said, this time Bruce's voice seemed to break through the Batman. Felicity reached up and touched the bandage on her forehead before shaking her head.

"It was nothing, just a bit of a car accident." the woman replied crossing her arms over her chest. They stood there in silence, both sure that words needed to be said in this moment, but neither quite brave enough to say them. "I should get back. The others really should be back soon." Felicity began backing away toward the door. "I'll tell Oliver—" her words were cut off as Bruce suddenly moved toward her, her back stumbling against the door of the roof, trapped. He suddenly pulled the cowl from his head, and placed a hand on the woman's waist.

"Don't be afraid." Bruce whispered and Felicity's heart raced and she dropped her eyes from his. She was completely frightened right now, and she thought she hid it well, she'd definitely had lots of practice of keeping her emotions hidden, but it would seem that one man saw right through it. "We will get through this fight." she once again met his eyes, and could see how certain he was with those words.

"Promise me." she whispered and a small smile came to the man's lips as his eyes found themselves being pulled into her and he realized what was happening. He was losing the person he needed to be and so he backed away, picking his cowl up from the ground and turning back to to the ledge of the roof, leaving Felicity standing there in a state between confusion and anger. She growled before turning and storming back into the clock tower.

When she returned, relief washed over her when she saw the others had returned. It was Katie who noticed her first.

"You alright?" Katie asked and Felicity simply nodded, but Katie only half believed it, but let it go for the moment. She walked over to where the other watched as Ethan opened the case, revealing multiple vials of blue liquid. Katie walked over beside him, to get a closer look. "Looks like kool-aid." she picked up one of the vials, bringing it closer to her eyes.

"Well this stuff is supposed to save lives." Ethan replied before his eyes widened. "It's Mirablueblue." Everyone turned to him, but he ignored him. "It's the name, get used to it." he reached over and took the vial from Katie before turning to Roy.

"We should test it, right?" Oliver said and both Katie and Ethan turned to him. "That's like medically the best thing to do?" Katie and Ethan turned to each other and nodded before turning to the man.

"Sometimes." Katie replied with a nod. "Or sometimes, there's this new drug that was just developed and it's the only drug that does the one thing we need it to do. Sometimes we can't wait, because if we do then—"

"We can't use Roy as a lab rat." Felicity replied, glancing over to Roy with a shake of her head. "It could kill him." she looked back to the doctors in the room. "Or what if he wakes up and kills us."

"Ok, by show of hands, who here has been a doctor for an embarrassing long time?" Ethan asked, and Katie nudged him, before opening her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a ringing phone. They all turned to Felicity who the ringing came from, and she pulled out the phone.

"It's Lance."Felicity said before answering the call. "Detective?" It would seem that while Oliver and John tried listening to the call, Katie and Ethan stood above Roy having a silent conversation with their eyes. Ethan was silently telling Katie that he was just going to give Roy the cure, but Katie shook her head, in the end Ethan was the man holding the syringe and so he did what he and the woman across from him knew he was going to do.

"Amanda, I need more time!" Oliver snapped and both doctors looked over to see Oliver on his own phone. Katie walked over to see what she had missed, when Oliver growled pulling the phone from his ear. He shook his head before stalking back over to Roy, only to watch as Ethan pulled the syringe out of the man's shoulder.

"I just figured at some point you would see it my way." Ethan said meekly with a shrug.

"What's happening?" Katie asked and Oliver turned to her with a slight shake of his head. Their troubles just kept coming.

On a very tall building in the center of Starling stood the Batman, panting in exhaustion after going a few rounds with a couple of Slade's soldiers. He thought everything he heard was just over exaggeration, but he soon realized that maybe it wasn't. He hoped Oliver and the others really did have a lead on the cure, because he was afraid that was the only thing that was going to slow these guys down. He looked over to the destruction that was overcoming the city and knew it would only get worse when he saw the ARGUS soldiers arrive. Bruce glanced up, when he heard a sharp wind above him, soon the source dropped in front of him.

"Aren't you looking tired?" Superman said with that smile that made Bruce just want to punch out his perfect teeth. "C'mon, don't tell me you're going soft on me old man."

"Stop talking before I shoot you with a few of those kryptonite bullets I have saved for the day I find out you're really the enemy." Batman said walking over to the edge of the building. "Why aren't you out there?"

"I have been, but I need to know how this all ends. If these men can be stopped with something else besides death." Superman replied. "Where are the Arrow and the others?"

"They're in a clock tower on the other side of the city hiding out." Batman gravelly replied.

"I guess that explains the group of super soldiers headed that way." Superman replied and Batman looked at him with darkened eyes. "What? I thought they were fleeing?" Bruce simply shook his head before stepping on the ledge of the building, and jumping off, his cape snapping open into a glider.

For some reason, they all expected some instantaneous revival after Ethan gave Roy the cure, but nothing happened. They were starting to have doubts. Oliver stood near the window, looking out when Katie walked over to stand beside him.

"It doesn't work, does it?" he said, only for her to hear and Katie shook her head.

"We don't know that yet." Katie replied. "With as much venom we've been pushing into him, it's no shocker that it'll take some time." she glanced out of the window as well, the smell of smoke in the air, and she could see the distant plane hovering overhead. "This was apparently my father's job too." Oliver looked over to her. "Amanda said that he was placed here to make sure nothing like this happened, that the bad guys were taken care of before it got this far."

"And then for some reason he and my dad wanted us to be the ones to continue the job after they were gone." Oliver sighed turning back to look out the window. "Some job we're doing, huh?"

"At least we're here." Katie said with a nod. "Doing something. At this point that is better than nothing." she was about to turned to check on Roy, but stopped and turned back to Oliver. "Oh, and one more thing—" she suddenly sent an elbow to his gut, causing him to grimace in pain. Everyone suddenly looked over to the couple, but no one moved still trying to figure out what was happening. "The next time you and your buddy Bruce think up a plan that includes drugging me and whisking me away to Gotham, I promise I will hurt both of you in ways neither of you can even imagine. Understand?" Oliver didn't even get a chance to respond, before there was a sudden siren in the room.

"Oh hell." Felicity said standing to her feet and swiping the screen of her tablet.

"Felicity, what's happening?" Katie asked as they all went over to her.

"Proximity alarm." Felicity answered her eyes never leaving her screen. "I rigged the tower with sensor alarms in case Slade's goons came came here to kill us." she looked up to Katie's eyes. "So, Slade's goons came here to kill us." Felicity was proven right by the sudden movement coming from outside.

"Felicity—"

"They're inside! They're underneath us!" the woman spoke frantically looking back to her tablet. "There's too many of them." Suddenly their attention was pulled from the woman, but a sudden groan that came from no other than Roy. They stared in surprised at the man who was now on his feet, confusion written all over his face.

"Where am I?" Roy asked looking to them. Suddenly the trap door burst open from underneath them, and a masked man appeared. It was Roy who instinctively ran over and punched the man, only for Slade's goon, to take a quick step back before sliding a leg underneath Roy's feet sending the man crashing to the floor. Katie was closest and quickly ran over, giving the goon a hard kick to the stomach sending him flying back down the ladder, before closing and locking the hatch. She turned to Oliver, just as something came through the window. They all looked up to see what looked like a bat shaped anchor attach to the wall, a cable connected. Suddenly Batman followed crashing through the window.

"You've been compromised!" his gravelly voice spoke breathlessly.

"Oh, we know!" Felicity snapped, just as a hand slammed through the door, grabbing her ankle, and she screamed. Bruce moved without hesitation, ran over, pulling a gun from somewhere and shooting a few shots at the man until Felicity was released. The moment the goon released her, Felicity practically leaped into Bruce's arms. After a moment she realized what she'd done, and pulled away from the man. "How do we get out of here?"

"The cable." Oliver spoke walking over to Bruce who nodded. "Down the cable." Roy ran over, grabbing the handles of Bruce's line, before sliding down, the moment he was on the ground, the handles went shooting back up, and John was next, but Ethan ran over beside him, with a look that made John shake his head. He gave the man a nod, before Ethan brought an arm around John's back, and John did the same, making sure they both secure before each took a handle and slid down immediately. When the handles came back up, Felicity stood at the window, hesitantly debating if falling to her death would be the worse than being killed by Slade's goons.

"Sorry Ms. Smoak." Batman said appearing at her side. "No time to be afraid of heights." he suddenly wrapped an arm around her and grabbed the handles before tossing them both out of the window.

Katie ran up next about to grab the handles, but stopped and turned back to Oliver.

"This is something I think I would like to do with you." Katie replied and even in all the madness, Oliver found a smile before walking over and letting the woman bring her arms around him. "Don't let me go."

"Never." he said before sending them down the cable.

Once their feet hit the ground, they all turned and looked up to the clock tower just as an ARGUS helicopter flew around. They all watched in confusion, before the door to the copter slid open and a missile sudden was shot out, hitting the tower and hopefully blowing up a couple of crazed goons. Suddenly a face appeared from the helicopter, and John looked up a smile coming to his face at the sight of Lyla Michaels.

It would've been perfect if they all could fit in the ARGUS copter, but today wasn't a day of perfection. So John, Roy, Oliver and Katie rode in the copter while Felicity begrudgingly agreed to riding in the bat Jet. Ethan was all too excited to ride with her. As they moved through the sky, they looked out to the shambles of their city. Slade's goons were moving fast, and leaving destruction in their wake. When they returned to the lair, they had one mission in sights and that was to weaponize the Mirakuru. Oliver, and the others that rode with Lyla arrived first, stopping them in their tracks when they saw what had become of their lair. It had been ran through and ransacked.

"Wow." Katie said moving around the lair to get a close look at the damage. "I guess if Slade's army couldn't find us, I guess they decided to wreck the place."

"Lyla, your boss is going to bomb the city at dawn." Oliver said turning to the woman who nodded.

"Yeah, Waller's never seen a problem she didn't think couldn't be solved with a drone strike.'" John grumbled with a shake of his head.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Lyla asked turning a smile to John who turned to her in surprise.

"You knew Waller was looking to level the city and you came here anyway?"

"You're here." she replied, the answer justification enough to get her right here in the middle of an impending drone strike.

"That's sweet." Katie said walking over to her. "But since you're the only chance we have of stopping Waller—"

"I wouldn't say that." Lyla replied. "There have been Superman sightings around the city, so I doubt he would stand by and just watch the city get blown to bits."

"Wait, he's here?" Oliver asked, turning to Katie.

"I had Felicity call him, but I hadn't heard from him directly. I guess he saw trouble an just jumped right in."

"Then why isn't this all over?"John asked and they turned to him. "No offense, but from what I've seen of the guy he's a man and an army all by himself."

"He's also a bleeding heart hero." Felicty's voice spoke and they all turned to see the woman along with Ethan walking inside. "What the hell happened here?" she rushed over to her computers to see the true damage.

"Slade." John replied. "Superman?"

"Oh, yeah." the woman said tearing her attention back to the others. "Slade's army are all in all human, so before he starts tossing people at the sun, he wants to make sure there are no other options, which Bruce has informed him there are."

"Well I don't want it to get that far." Oliver said turning back to Lyla. "Get back to ARGUS. Try to talk Waller out of this or at least buy us some time to stop Slade." The woman simply nodded.

"Not without me." John said suddenly, and Lyla turned to him. "'till death do us part, right?" Lyla gave him a smile.

"This time it might." she replied taking his had before the pair headed out the back.

"Felicity, where is Bruce?" Oliver asked and the woman rolled her eyes turning back to her computers.

"After a brutally awkward silence, Felicity and Batman erupted into a full blast argument, that I'm not supposed to repeat or I could be murdered." Ethan said

"Bruce wouldn't—"

"Not Bruce Kit." Ethan said turning a wary gaze to the back of Felicity's head. "Felicity Smoak is more devious than I think you all might be aware." he shuttered before turning back to Oliver. "After he dropped us here, he said he was going back out there to assist the police."

"Alright, I need you to scrounge up as many weapons as you can." Oliver says turning to the group. " Especially injection arrows. We're going to fill them with the cure." he glanced over to Roy. "Which obviously works. This ends tonight, without killing."

And with that they all began moving about, until music began playing out of no where.

"Why is 'Play that funky music white boy' playing right now?" Felicity asked.

"That's Ethan's phone." Katie says looking over to the man whose eyes were scanning the room for the phone. He moved, hearing the phone a bit clearer before spotting it and grabbing it just as the phone stopped ringing. "Is it your mom?"

"My mom isn't the only—" the man stopped his face scrunching in confusing. "It's Becks, she's called like a million times." the man brought the phone to his ear to hear one of the many voice mails the woman had left. "Shit." he tucked the phone into his pocket and turned to the others. "I have to go. Becks says the hospital is flooded with patients, and the power's down and she has like four doctors."

"Go." Oliver said nodding to the man. "Thanks for your help, but I think you'll be more useful at the hospital." Ethan nodded before turning to leave.

"Wait." Katie said and Ethan stopped. "Just wait." she turned to Oliver and the pair simply looked at each other for a moment before Oliver knew what was going on in the woman's head. "Why do I want to go with him?" she muttered, but Oliver heard her and took a step toward her.

"Because you wouldn't be Twinkie if you didn’t." he said with a smile. "You're needed too doctor, but it's your choice where you go." Katie glanced over to Ethan, the pull to be Doctor Katherine Robins still strong inside of her. She then turned back to Oliver, feeling that other part of herself, that part that wants to fight the good fight still burning strong. She thought hard, but in the end her decision was simple.

"I'm going to go with Ethan." she said glancing over to the doctor. "Just let me change and I will be ready to go." she turned back to Oliver, placing a hand above his heart before turning to find her clothes to get changed.

Katie knew right now that time was something she didn't have to waste, but after she'd gotten dress, she was still hesitant about her decision. Every beam in her body was telling her that she needed to go to that hospital, because that was her purpose, and yet there was her heart telling her that she shouldn't leave Oliver and the others the moment they're about to finally bring an end to this fucked up battle in Starling.

When she finally opened the door of the bathroom, Oliver was right there waiting for her.

"I change my mind, I—" she suddenly stopped when he brought his hands to her waist and pulled her close.

"You are a doctor before anything else, right?" he asked and Katie looked at him for a moment before nodding. "Starling needs you doctor. You're still in this fight, you're just going to a different field."

"That was corny." Katie replied before placing her hands on his chest. "You have to come back to me." she looked up meeting his eyes. "You are going to come back to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes doctor." he replied before leaning in, his lips meeting hers in a kiss that neither wanted to end. The room was filled with too much finality and disastrous possibilities. They didn't know how this was going to end, and that was scary all in itself. When they finally pulled apart, they didn't veer too far, their arms still wrapped around each other. "I'm sure this isn't helping you focus."

"Right now I don't care." Oliver said and Katie smiled once again, before dropping her head on his chest and letting him bring her into a tight hug.

"Kit, we gotta go." Ethan said from behind them.

The last thing either one of them wanted to do was pull apart, but it would seem that at the moment, they didn't have a choice.

"I love you Liver." Katie said one final time before finally pulling herself from Oliver's grasp.

"I love you so much Twinkie." Oliver said and for the life of them, they couldn't move. Their feet were stuck right there for a long moment, before Katie finally turned away to walk over to Ethan. She first stopped by Felicity, giving the woman a hug, before turning to Roy and giving him a kiss to the cheek.

"Make sure he makes it back, ok?" she whispered to the man, who simply nodded before watching the two doctors finally leave.

When Ethan and Katie stepped through the doors of Glade's memorial, the place definitely was a mad house. The waiting room was over flowing, and nurses and doctors moving quickly about, as the lights flickered above them.

"Ethan, thank God—" Rebecca stopped her eyes going to Katie. "What are you doing here?"

"I called her after I got your messages." Ethan replied and Rebecca turned to him. "I figured we could use all the help we could get." the woman opened her mouth, but Ethan held up a hand to stop her. "Before you say whatever is about to come out of that stubborn mouth of yours, please don't. You need all hands on deck and she's here, willing to help, and you're going to take it." he turned to Katie. "There are extra scrubs in the lounge, c'mon." Katie stared with wide eyes as the man turned and walked down the hall, before turning back to Rebecca.

"He's an annoying little prick." the woman said watching the man down the hall. "But he's right. It's probably why they're giving him my job when I leave."

"Leave?" Katie asked and the woman turned back to her.

"Jake got that promotion, so we're moving to China." the woman sighed as she looked over to the waiting room. "So of course crazy people would be running rampant, destroying the city the week before we leave."

"Don't worry, this should be over soon." Katie said and Rebecca turned to her. "I just got a feeling."

"I hope your feeling is right." Rebecca said nudging her head down the hall. "Go, get dressed and get out here and get in the game." Katie simply nodded before turning and running toward the locker room.

There were parts of this life that Katie missed. It was the rush and the metaphorical time clock and the necessity for precision, that she loved. Then there was the being on your feet for hours, with your head feeling like it was going to explode at any minute. They had managed to clear out the waiting room some, and the power seemed to be stabilizing when Katie finally decided to take a break and hide out in the lounge for a while. She sat on the couch, her phone in here hand. She'd been trying her hardest not to think about Oliver and the others, wanting to believe that they could do this and come out the other end victorious, but she was only human. The love of her life was placing himself on the front lines of a battle that could go anyway and she just needed to hear his voice.

"Any word?" Ethan said, and Katie turned to see the man with a bottle of water.

"No, not yet." she replied turning back to her phone. Ethan sat down beside her, seeing the twitch of her leg in nervousness. "What if something is wrong? What if Slade won, what if—"

"Kit, you can't think like that." Ethan replied bringing an arm around her shoulders. "Oliver can do this and he has a kick ass team backing him up."

"I'm supposed to be there." Katie said with a shake of her head before standing to her feet and pacing. "I'm supposed to be there, watching his back—" she glanced over to Ethan. "I'm the Guardian."

"Except you're not just his guardian." Ethan replied. "You're here, right now because you know that."

"I just—" Katie's phone suddenly beeped, and she quickly looked down to see a text. "It's Oliver. He wants me to meet him at the Queen manor." she looked back up to Ethan. "I have to go." Ethan simply nodded, knowing there was nothing he could say to stop the woman. "Everything is alright here, right?"

"Yeah, you helped slow us down a bit." the man said before bringing his arms around the woman in a hug. "Be careful Kit."

"Aren't I always?" she asked and the man let out a snort before the woman pulled from the hug before walking over and grabbing her jacket and bag.

"Hey!" Ethan said and Katie turned to see the man pull out his keys. "Take the van." he tossed them to her, which she easily caught. "Don't wreck it, or you're buying me another one."

"Fine, I'll just google pedophile van." Katie muttered with a shake of her head before giving the man a wave before rushing out the door.

The Queen manor was cold and dark when Katie walked in. It seemed more creepy than it ever did in this moment. She walked inside, searching for Oliver, but realized he wasn't there. For a moment she thought this was another trick to get her hidden, but soon she heard the door, and turned as Oliver walked over to her.

"Liver, what's going on? Why are we here?" Katie asked as Oliver placed his hands on Katie's waist. "Oliver—"

"I need you to stay here. This place is big and safe and Slade won't think to find you here." Oliver said and Katie looked at him in confusion. "Getting every last soldier is going to take time and I can't do it if I'm worrying about Slade taking you."

"Oliver, we already talked about this and—"

"And it doesn't change anything. Slade has one move left and that is take the one thing in this world I love more than anything." Katie felt the grip on her waist tighten, and she could see the seriousness in his eyes. "You're the last move, him taking you was always the last move and I can't let that happen." Oliver leaned in, his lips slamming into hers, in a kiss filled with the truth behind his words. When the need for air was too great, they pulled apart, Oliver's forehead dropping to rest on Katie's. He suddenly grabbed her hand, lifting it up and slyly slipping a ring on her middle finger. Katie lifted her head and looked over to her hand to see the ring. It was the ring she hadn't thought she would see for a while, and definitely not this day, when the city was crumbling around them.

"Liver—" she turned back to Oliver.

"I have no idea what I was waiting for. It was always you Katherine Robins. You were always the one who I wanted to spend forever with." Oliver said with a smile as his eyes never parting from hers. "So, Katherine Robins, my Twinkie, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Katie stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes on his as he held her hand up, while he secretly slid a syringe in the other, which she carefully placed in her pocket. They were being watched , probably by Slade and so the beauty of this moment came into question for Katie. This was a show, something Oliver needed Slade to see. Katie simply leaned forward and placed a kiss to the man's lips before pulling back slightly. "No." she said and Oliver looked confused. "But ask me again when the doom and gloom isn't happening around us." a smile came to her lips. "I promise you will get the answer you want." Oliver pulled the woman closer to him, as he brought his arms around her. "We will make it to the end of this, and I really hate that I'm going to say this, but if you think me staying here is the right move, then I will. I promise." Oliver smiled, his lips once again meeting hers. She felt the grasp he had around her tighten, and knew he hated doing this. Hated the events that were going to follow the moment he walked out of this house.

"Twinkie—"

"You should go." Katie interrupted, hearing the hesitation in his voice. "I'm going to be fine." His grasp didn't loosen, and his intense gaze held hers, a silent conversation passing between them. She placed a hand on the side of his cheek "Don't worry, we still have forever."

"Yeah, we still have forever." he replied before placing one final kiss to the woman's cheek.

"Oliver, go." she whispered, knowing it was the last thing he wanted to do, but it was what had to happen. Oliver finally found the strength to push himself back, and let her out of his arms. "We end this tonight, remember?"

"Right." Oliver said before looking down to the woman's hand. "It looks good on you." Katie lifted her hand to look down to the ring as well before turning back to Oliver. "I can't wait for that answer." the man simply pulled the hood back over his head before turning and heading back out into battle leaving Katie standing there alone.

Katie looked back down to the ring on her hand and smiled, but the smile soon fell when she heard the front door open. She dropped her hands to her sides, and stood up straight.

"Somebody there?!" she called as heavy footsteps echoed around her, but soon the source appeared and Katie gasped. "Slade?!" she took a step back about to turn, but there were two more of Slade's soldiers waiting for her to run. She turned back to the one eyed man, to see the smile on his face as he walked over to her. She kept quiet as he placed a hand on her cheek, but she jerked away from his touch.

"I've been waiting an awfully long time for this moment dear Katherine." Slade said with a smirk. "This moment was destined to happen."

"What are you talking about?" Katie asked and the man simply chuckled.

"I've been waiting so long just to breathe, and that was never possible until one thing happened." he said before giving his men a nod. The men walked over each grabbing Katie's arm. She tried to pull free, but they were strong. "Your daddy took my life from me and I plan on taking the only bit of life he has left." Katie turned a glare back to the man. "And take the one thing Oliver Queen loves the most in the process." and with that the man chuckled, before turning and walking away. Katie was forced to follow, as the men pulled her with them.

The only thing Katie wished for in this moment was that Slade Wilson was too caught up in his own revenge to even think to check her pockets.


	25. Long, Live, Love,

**Chapter 25**

**Long, Live, Love,**

* * *

There's this old saying, "_Wisdom is to live in the present, plan for the future and profit from the past._" Once again, Katie found herself thinking of those words and she wasn't truly sure why. Not in this moment. Not as she sits on the hard wooden chair, in an old oil processing plant, staring at the eye patched wearing man who just stared at her, with a slight smirk fixed on his face.

"The first time I met your father, I remember walking into his office and overhearing a conversation he was having with you." Slade shook his head at the memory. "He was telling you how much he looked forward to seeing you when you came home after graduation."

"So before you kill me, you're going to talk me to death?" Katie snarked and Slade chuckled.

"Sense of humor." the man said. "Just like him. Some times I just think he liked to hear his own voice. He just talked and talked and/-"

"Much like you're doing now." Katie stated with a shake of her head as she turned away from him. It was just the two of them, but she had no doubt, Slade's goons were nearby.

"You know I expected more of a fight from you." Slade said and Katie chuckled. "At least from what Ms. Rochev described, but I wouldn’t be able to ask her now."

"Did you love her?" Katie asked and the man turned away. "Is that why I'm here, because I killed her?" he looked to her, seeing the smirk curl at her lips. "I didn't hesitate, you know? There is no hesitation when it comes to your survival."

"You sound like a soldier." the man said sliding closer to her, intrigued that she didn't even attempt to inch away. "But what kind of war has some rich doctor been put in?"

"You and your league of doped up criminals." Katie says, deciding to lean in as well. "Definitely aren't my toughest opponents." she sat back in her seat, and folded her arms over her chest. "What are you waiting for? Are you going to kill me? Are you going to invite Oliver so he can watch? What happens now?" Slade looked at her, and it made her feel uneasy, even though she would never show it.

"All in good time. Right now I just want to talk to you."

"About my father?" she asked and the man sat back in his chair. "The man who gave the order that landed you on that island."

"Jacob took my life." Slade replied with a shake of his head. "And I don't even know why. I wasn't one of his ARGUS agents, he wasn't my commanding officer, and yet he made one call that landed me and Billy in his office, and all these years I still don't know why."

"You can't ask the dead questions, Mr. Wilson. If you could, people would sleep a whole lot better at night. Either let me go, or kill me, because this talking doesn't change anything that has happened." Katie said. "Actually nothing you have done will change anything, you ending up on that island, Shado being killed, no matter how many bodies you pile up, nothing will ever change that." He once again stared at her, studying her and she wasn't sure what he was doing. "What is this? Why do I get the feeling that this isn't you trying to draw Oliver here. Why—

"You talk an awful lot." Slade replied before standing to his feet towering over her. "Just like him. Except back then I was too much of a good soldier to rip his tongue out, but now—" he bent down slightly, their eyes locked, neither flinching in intimidation. "Now—" he simply chuckled before turning and walking off. When he was gone, Katie knew he wasn't really gone, knew she wasn't truly alone. Her hand slid across her pocket, relief only settling inside of her at the feeling that this would soon be over.

Martin Ellis was simply a man who believed in what he did. He would die for the cause set by Jacob, and it would seem he would die anyway. He stood trying not to flinch or shake, or show any signs of fear after revealing to his boss that the protection detail following his daughter had gotten caught up in the war happening in the streets of Starling, and now had no idea where she was. What Martin knew about Jacob Robins was that the man could talk. He always had something to say, usually in great detail about practically everything, and yet in this moment, Jacob Robins was eerily quiet.

"Sir—" Jacob held up a hand for the man to not speak another word and Martin closed his mouth, not even tempted to disobey the order.

"My daughter is in the hands of man who would love nothing more than to hurt me, even if beyond the grave." Jacob spoke, turning and walking over to his desk , dropping his hands on it's surface, before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. "My only child is being used as tool to satisfy this sick son of bitch's craving for revenge." Jacob turned back to Martin. "And you have no idea where she is. Is that what you're telling me Marty?" To any one else, it was just a carefree nick name, but Martin knew the truth. Jacob only called him Marty, when he was wholeheartedly upset with him, which meant his actions could be unpredictable.

"No sir." Martin replied and Jacob looked to him with a quirked brow. "I'm telling you that a man whose only power lies from a drug that runs through his veins, that can easily be taken away, has captured a woman who has faced the devil himself." Martin took a step forward, only one. "I'm telling you sir that this woman who everyone think needs to be protected is the one Slade will need protection from. You made sure of that sir." Jacob stood silently, before turning away.

"Find my daughter Martin." Jacob simply ordered. Martin nodded before turning and rushing from the office. Once alone, Jacob let out a sigh before slightly lifting his head to the ceiling. "Oh Grace, I hope you're watching over her."

Oliver Queen wasn't one hundred percent sure of any of the decisions he'd been making lately which at this moment, when him and his friends were in the middle of a war just seemed too risky. Sara, and Nyssa had arrived with a couple of Ra's assassins, apparently there to help. Oliver was expectantly suspicious, but knew that he needed all the help that he could get when it came to defeating Slade's men. He took it, with the added insurance that they made no move without his approval. He knew it was a long shot, that this, Ra's people here when he was overwhelmed with Slade, could be a tactic to get to Katie, but he knew without a doubt he wouldn't let that happen.

Katie. He tried with every once of himself to not think about her, to not think about what Slade could be possibly doing to her because of this plan he believed could be their answer to finally ending this war. It was a very tough decision to even fathom, and yet something happened. He realized that the woman he so desperately wants to keep safe, who he needs to keep breathing, has absolutely no problem of protecting herself. Maybe there were hundreds of other options, maybe this was a stupid plan, and maybe he had doubt about most of it. What Oliver Queen didn't doubt was her. So he would wait for the call that he had absolutely no doubt was coming. Slade thought he captured the one Oliver loves, but he had no idea that it was he who had been captured.

Oliver stood on top of a cab after a intense battle with Slade's men. It had to be close to the last of them, leaving only Slade.

"We need to talk." Nyssa spoke from below him. He glanced down, before hopping down to her. "Nura—"

"We had a deal, you don't say her name, you don't even think about her." Oliver growled.

"I find it laughable that you think you can prevent what is already destined." the woman said. "But that is not what I'm talking about, your Slade Wilson has Nura and—"

"Do not worry about her." Oliver said before turning to walk away, but Nyssa caught his arm and the man jerked from her grasp.

"You already knew, didn't you?" she asked, but Oliver simply looked out to the area making sure everything was clear. "She's bait."

"No, she's what Slade needs her to be." Oliver said turning back to her. "Do not worry about her, because you will not come anywhere near her." the woman chuckled slightly. "What?"

"Nura does not die tonight. Whatever your plan entails, whatever you expect to happen, I really hope it happens, because she does not die tonight."

"Why, because Ra's wants her for himself?"

"One day you will know how powerful the demon's words are." Nyssa said before turning and stalking away.

"What was that about?" Sara asked walking over to Oliver who turned away. "Ollie—" Sara was interrupted by a call that came through his comlink.

"Go!" Oliver answered. Sara watched him closely, seeing the tension take over his features as he listened to whoever was speaking.

"It's over, Slade! Your army is broken." Oliver snapped.

_"And I pity them. But once again, you miss the point. I have the one you love."_ Slade revealed, and he heard the snarl that escaped Oliver's lips. "_You're going to meet me where I say. Otherwise, I'm going to kill her."_

"No you do what you have to. I'm done playing your games!" Oliver snapped angrily.

"_You're done when I say you're done!"_ Slade roared. _"I was surprised. I thought you had a thing for strong women. And now that I finally have her, I can see there is a very different side to your Twinkie." _the man chuckled, tauntingly.

Katie sat in the cold, oil factory her eyes closed and her arms wrapped around herself. She should be focused, one hundred percent, but she knew what this was. It was supposed to be a production, one set for Oliver. The thing was, it was she who would decide everything, because she held the syringe in her pocket, and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't understand why she was waiting to end this.

_Katie's heart was ramming in her chest as the plane landed. She was getting nervous, and hesitant about all of this. _

_"I can't imagine what must be going through your mind right now." Martin spoke from his spot across from her. Neither had passed any words during the duration of the flight, but Martin seemed to want to change that. "The only thing I can tell you is that, all of this, every last beating, every last punch, kick scratch, in the end it will be worth it." Katie turned an icy glare to the man who had the audacity to say those words to her. "You don't see it now—" the man stopped talking when Katie unfastened her seat belt. "Katherine—" _

_"Was it worth it for you?" Katie asked. "To turn against my father and hurt his daughter the way you have? You're a piece of shit, and I promise you that when I get home and I get my life back, I will spend a very embarrassing amount of time helping the police find you and find Agent Waller, and Ra's Al Ghul and making sure every last one of you pay for what you've done to me." _

_"You don't get it do you?" Martin said with a shake of his head. "At this point, I thought you would, but you just don't get it." the man unclasped his seat belt as well. "You were kidnapped by Bosnian extremists and held against your will in order to gain ransom from your father. When they realized that his health would not improve they decided to release you." he leaned in closer. "You didn't see their faces, they never let you see their faces. You remember me though, I came to try to pay them off, but they killed me, right in front of you." _

_"What—" _

_"Some story about secret government agencies, and mystical warlords, that's not something a lot of people believe. If you go to the embassy, if you return home unable to just let this go, then you'll never truly get home. We won't let you." _

_"Is that a threat?" Katie growled. _

_"No, it's a promise. This was all a test, one you passed and lived to take the lessons with you. And you're going to need those lessons." The man suddenly stood to his feet. "And now we must prepare you for your return." Katie looked at him confused, before turning at the sound of footsteps. She saw a man, dressed in tactical gear. He wasn't one of Waller's, so she assumed he was with Martin. _

_"And by prepare..." Katie stood to her feet and began backing away from the man. _

_"You were a prison, beaten to submission." Martin looked over to the man who clenched his fists as he stretched his neck. "You have to look the part." the woman rose her fists ready to fight back and Martin simply stood there watching the fight begin.  
_  
"You were the light of his life." Slade's voice spoke, pulling her from the memory. "It's what he said that first day I met him." Katie opened her eyes to see the man standing behind the chair he'd been sitting in earlier.

"It was Billy." Katie said suddenly and the man looked at her with confusion. If he wanted to play mind games, then she would play them too. "He showed signs of violent, erratic behavior in the field. He became unpredictable, and ASIS needed someone to determine if he had a future with the agency."

"How do you know this?" Slade asked taking the seat in front of him.

"I was given files, about you and your missions and that one mission some guy from a different agency assigned to you." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "My father had a reputation for revealing the things people wanted to hide, to bring out their true selves, and that's why he was hired by your agency. They put Billy in a situation, rescue a chinese ally held captive by terrorists. They wanted to see what course of action he would take in the event that this cut and dry mission wasn't so cut and dry."

"And me, what was my purpose?"

"You and Wintergreen were friends, had been for a long time. ASIS wanted you to save him, to pull him back from the darkness, and you couldn't do that.” Katie said leaning back in her chair. "You actually fell into the darkness yourself."

"Because of Queen, and what he did."

"Oliver was placed in a very impossible situation. Ivo had a gun to the heads of two people he cared deeply about, how do you make that choice. Someone was going to die, someone was going to have to die, and Oliver—"

"He decided that my Shado would be the one to die." Slade growled before standing to his feet and kicking the chair, sending it crashing into the wall. "He took the one thing I needed for my heart to beat, and now I am going to take his."

"Let me go!" a voice echoed and Katie looked confused as she tried to find the source. Soon she found it, as Laurel is dragged in by one of Slade's me. The moment she saw Katie, she tried to pull free, the man held onto her firmly. Katie turned her glare to Slade, before standing to her feet.

"Let her go." she growled, and Slade looked at her in a amusement.

"Oh, there she is. There's the spit first I've been hearing so much about. No we are going to let my friend Oliver make another choice." Slade said taking a dangerous step closer to the woman, who didn't move an inch. He leaned in closer, looking at her eyes. "You got some big darkness wrapped up in that tiny body of yours, don't you doctor."

"You have no idea." Katie replied, before she grabbed the chair behind her and threw it at the man, only causing him to stumble back. Katie used the momentary distraction to run toward the man holding Laurel, who immediately pushed the woman away, before pulling free the sword he had sheath behind his back. He swung the sword with a powerful force, but Katie dropped slightly to miss the blade, before kicking her foot up, right into his wrist knocking the sword from his hand. "Laurel, run!" both women bolted as quickly as they could away from Slade and his goons. The factory was huge, seamlessly never ending, and it would seem every turn never seemed to be bring them closer to an exit. Katie suddenly stopped, grabbing Laurel's arm and pulling them behind one of a row of pipes. Both women tried to catch their breath, but also tried to listen for anyone who could be close by.

"How do we get out of here?" Laurel whispered and Katie glanced over to her, before looking around for a way out. She spotted a window, further up that could be accessed from a ladder underneath it.

"There." Katie whispered pointing to the ladder. "Take that ladder, and get out of here." she turned back to Laurel. "Get as far away as can and—"

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Laurel asked and Katie shook her head.

"Slade does not make it to tomorrow." Katie replied. "This all ends tonight. Laurel you have to—"

"I'm not leaving you here." Laurel said quite unexpectantly. Laurel's opinion of Katie had been quite clear for a long time, and for her to show such concern for her wellbeing was still a bit odd.

"Laurel I appreciate you wanting to help, but I can handle this on my own. But I can only do that if I'm not worried about you getting hurt. Your dad needs you, your sister needs you and—"

"Oliver needs you. John and Felicity need you." Laurel interrupted. "So no, I'm not running and leaving you here alone to take on a psychopath by yourself."

"You really are annoying." Katie muttered only for the woman to give a smirk. "Alright, I have to contact Oliver and—"

"Slade already did." Laurel said and Katie turned to her. "Slade told Oliver he had you and that if he wanted to save you then he had to come here alone."

"Of course he did." Katie sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. "C'mon we need to find out where this is happening."

"Why?"

"Because we're Oliver's back up." Katie replied before nudging her head for the woman to follow.

Oliver moved quietly into the processing plan, his bow held high and an arrow at the ready. His eyes moved across the steam and pipes around him, searching for Slade.

"I want them found now!" Slade's voice roared, causing Oliver to stop. He turned, following where he'd heard the voice. Soon the man came in his sights, and Slade turned to the arrow pointed at him.

Oliver's eyes glanced around, hoping to see Katie, but she was no where in sight, which only made him even more nervous.

"Where is she?!" the Arrow roared, his finger twitching to release the arrow. He knew he couldn't, not yet, not until he knew she was safe.

"Let me go!" a familiar voice screamed and both men turned to see Katie and Laurel now being dragged toward them by Slade's goons. Oliver locked eyes with Katie who the goon handed over to Slade. Slade pulled a sword from behind him, and pressed it to Katie's neck.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked looking between Katie and Laurel.

"My first words to you." Slade spoke, never lessening the blade against the woman's neck. "Do you remember? I do. I remember the exact moment. My blade against your neck." he glanced down to Katie who closed her eyes trying to retain her focus. "Just like my blade is against the neck of your beloved. If only I'd killed you then, everything would be different."

"Would it?" it was Katie who spoke opening her eyes. "You know I keep hearing these stories about the island, and all the fucked up shit that happened. You were never going to be happy Slade, you and Shado were never going to ride into the sunset together, because this guy was inside you, the monster you think Oliver created was already inside of you and she would've seen it. "

"Shut up!" Slade growled, the blade pressing just a bit deeper, causing Katie moan in pain.

"Slade, don't!" Oliver pleaded and Slade lifted his eyes back to the man.

"Drop the bow, kid." Slade ordered, and Oliver hesitated for a moment, his eyes still on Katie. "Now!"

"Don't do it Oliver, just end him." Katie said as tears suddenly rolled down her cheeks. "This needs to end, just end it." Oliver swallowed hard, before cautiously lowering the bow to the ground.

"Countless nights, dreaming of taking from you all that you took from me." Slade taunted as he once again glance down to Katie. "It was only fate that the same woman would be the daughter of the man I probably would've murdered if given the chance."

"Jacob's not here!" Oliver snapped. "He's dead, and so is Shado, and killing Katie will not change that."

"This is justice Oliver, it's what I thought you believed in. Why you put on that hood, and shoot arrows at those you deem have failed your city. This is justice."

"By killing the woman I love?" Oliver asks, and Slade nods. "Like you love Shado."

"Yes."

"You see her. Don't you?" Oliver asks, and Slade looks slightly surprised by the statement unsure how Oliver would know something he hasn’t told anyone. "Well, what does she look like in your madness, Slade? What does she say to you? I remember her being beautiful. Young. Kind. She would be horrified by what you've done in her name."

"What I have done? What I have done is what you lack the courage to do! To fight for her! So When her body lies at your feet, her blood wet against your skin, then you will know how I feel!"

"I already know how you feel. I know what it's like to hate. To want revenge. And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted, he doesn't see the real danger is right in front of him." So angry, enraged, Slade pulls Katie tighter against him, pushing the blade deeper. "And there is nothing more dangerous than my girl." Slade didn't expect it. He didn't plan for it, so he couldn't even stop it from happening. Katie pulled the syringe from her pocket quickly, jamming it in the man's shoulder. He cried out in pain, releasing her, and she jumped from his grasp into Oliver's awaiting arms. They all turned to Slade, who'd fallen to his knees. He turned to his man that still held Laurel.

"Kill her." he ordered, but before the goon could react, a cure filled dart hit him right in the back. The moment it did, his grip loosened on the woman who pulled from his grasp before turning and punching the man knocking him out. Laurel stood, just as her sister jumped to the floor in front of her.

"Nice right hook."

"Don't forget whose older." Laurel said giving her sister a hug.

"Get her out of here!" Oliver ordered and Sara nodded before taking her sister's arm and leading her out. Oliver looked to Katie, who was still in his arms. "You need to leave." Katie looked at him for a moment before looking over her shoulder to the man already trying to make his way to his feet. "Twinkie—" she turned back to Oliver, before pressing a quick kiss to his lips before pulling out of his arms, and leaving the men to settle something that had been brewing for years.

Katie ran outside, to find Sara waiting on her bike with Laurel behind her.

"You take his bike." Sara urged, revving the engine of her bike.

"I'm not leaving here without him." Katie replied turning back to the plant.

"He's fine. It's a fair fight, one you and I know Oliver will win." Sara replied and Katie turned back to her, with a familiar look of determination. "Look, you know what, fine. We'll meet you at the lair." and with that Sara peeled out of there, leaving Katie standing outside waiting...praying for Oliver's return.

Jacob was pacing. He never paced, it was always something his wife did and it always drove him crazy when she did, but here he was walking back and forth waiting for something, anything about his daughter.

"Sir!" a voice spoke from the speaker on his desk. "We have her in sights. Slade brought her to the oil processing plant, on the industrial sector of Starling."

"Is she safe?"

"Yes sir, the Arrow showed up, along with the Canary, rescuing both Katie and Laurel Lance." Martin spoke. "The Canary has taken her sister from the plant, but Katie has refused to leave."

"Where is Slade now?" Jacob asked.

"We assume he and Oliver are inside." Martin replied.

"So what is my daughter doing waiting outside?"

Katie stood there hating the waiting. She knew Oliver needed to focus, needed to give his all in a fight with the man who has haunted him for so long, but she can't help but feel as if she should be in there. Ever so often, she takes a step and then stops herself.

"You're afraid." a voice spoke, and Katie stood a bit straighter, her fists raising for any fight that may come her way. When she turned, she looked with wide eyes to see none other than Martin Ellis. "You should be in there, it should be you. This is the fight that would prove how ready you truly are."

"Ready for what?" Katie asked and the man shook his head. "Just tell me, what am I supposed to be ready for!" There was a sudden grunt, and Katie turned to see Slade hit the ground. She looked up as Oliver jumped from the roof, and the two continued fighting.

"End this." Martin said from behind her and Katie turned to see him holding out a bow toward her. Katie took the bow from his hand and suddenly memories of her twisted archery lessons with Lian struck her. That’s when she felt it. That darkness tingling in her finger tips. That buzzing she could never ignore no matter how much she tried. She glanced over to Oliver and Slade, their fight still going strong. At the moment, there was a shot. Oliver had Slade pinned down, and Katie saw that she had a clear shot to the man’s head. “End this now.” She glanced over to Martin. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard those words after being handed a weapon. And each time she complied out of fear. Right now she wasn’t afraid of disobeying an order and so she shoved the bow into Martin’s chest.

”No!” She said. “I’m not playing these games anymore. These ridiculous lessons end here. This is Oliver’s fight and he needs to see it through to the end. Whatever you think you’re preparing me for, whatever fight you think is coming my way, believe I will take care of it on my terms. This is over.” Katie turned just as Oliver shot a pair of bolo arrows at Slade, tying him to the cement column behind him. Katie let out a sigh. It was finally over.

"Here." Martin said and Katie turned back to him to see a comlink in his hand. "If I were you I would let our friend Agent Waller know she doesn't have to blow up the city any more."

"How did you—" Katie simply shook her head before taking the com and placing it in her ear. "Amanda! It's done. Slade has been neutralized. Do not send that drone, or God help me, I will—" the transmission ended and Katie sighed turning to find Martin gone. She heard footsteps and turned to see Oliver coming over to her. "I called Waller, hopefully stopping any drones from hitting—" Oliver's lips crashed into Katie's, releasing all of the pent up tension, and fear he held the moment he left her alone in that mansion. When they finally pulled from the kiss, Oliver brought his arms around her in a hug, that Katie couldn't help but return. "You weren't worried about me, were you?"

"You're such a smart ass." Oliver muttered, before pulling back and once again meeting his lips with hers.

The day after a war, everything just seems quieter. The city was damaged, but nothing that couldn't be rebuilt. The last thing any of them wanted to do was go back to the ARGUS facility. But it was Waller who would be accommodating Slade's imprisonment, and she surprisingly accepted Oliver's suggestion for placing the man in a secure prison on Lian Yu.

It only took a couple of days, two actually to prepare for Slade's transport to the island. It was a trip Oliver was insistent on supervising and of course he would not go back to Lian Yu without his team. Katie still found it weird to be on this island, especially when she could practically feel the horrible vibes the place seemed to radiate. At the moment Oliver was down in the prison, probably having his final words with Slade before finally leaving the man and letting him go.

"Anybody else hate this place?" Felicity spoke, and Katie and John chuckled from beside her. "I mean how can a place so beautiful, just hold so much bad juujuu?"

"I have no idea, but I can honestly say that I can't wait to get out of here and back—"

"To your hotel room?" John asked and Katie sent him a glare. "You have to go home at some point."

"I'm not sure." Katie sighed, as Felicity linked her arm with hers, dropping her head to Katie's shoulder. "Yes, Ms. Smoak?"

"Can we talk about it yet?" Felicity asked and Katie rolled her eyes. "Please, I just—"

"Felicity, no. Oliver and I haven't even talked about it yet, so until then, no, there will be no planning of anything." Katie said looking over to the woman who looked slightly disappointed. "I mean maybe it really was a show for Slade."

"He wouldn't do that." Felicity said with a shake of her head. "Not with this—" she lifted Katie's hand that still held a ring, she doesn't even attempt to remove. "This is his mother's ring, not a tool to capture an enemy. "They heard the metal hatch lift, and turned to see Oliver climbing out. "Talk to him." Felicity unlinked her arm, before she and John scurried off toward the plane.

"Good chat?" Katie asked and Oliver walked over, stopping in front of her. "So, I guess it's over. You stop being a little bitch, and you did it." she gave him a playful punch to the shoulder before smiling up to him.

“Well I had help." Oliver says bringing an arm around the woman and pulling her to him. Katie smiled, placing her hands on his chest and Oliver slid a hand up her arm, until it found the hand that held the ring.

"We should probably talk about that, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, but not here." Oliver says glancing around the island, with a shake of his head. "Definitely not here." Katie simply nodded before Oliver took her hand and lead her toward the plane with the others.

They ended up back at their lair, that was still a total wreck. Felicity stood over her computers, trying to analyze the damage to see if anything was salvageable, while the others tried finding anything they may need.

"You know what?" Oliver spoke and they all turned to him. "It has been a very long couple of days, and I say we just take a break. We'll come back to this, but now just go home."

"I think that might be a good idea." John said glancing around the mess.

"I'm not sure how much rest I can get knowing my babies are in pieces." Felicity says still eyeing the computers, as John brought an arm around her shoulder and began pulling her toward the stairs. They all walked up to the empty club, where Oliver and Katie waved goodbye to their friends before turning to each other.

"Hawaii." Katie said suddenly and Oliver looked at her in confusion. "C'mon, after the week we've had, we could use a beautiful beach, and calming waters."

"That does sound enticing." Oliver replied before once again glancing to her hand. "We should talk." Katie simply nodded before walking over to take a seat at the bar and he followed behind her, taking the seat beside her. She watched him closely, how he seemed nervous for some reason. He took a deep breath, about to speak before Katie held up a hand.

"Stop." she said with a shake of her head before looking down to the ring. "You had to make it look real. Authentic, I get it."

"Katie—"

"Oliver, it's fine." she slipped the ring off her finger, hoping the disappointment didn't show on her face as she did. She simply put on a smile before handing it back to him. "It was too soon anyway, right?"

"Twinkie, don't do that." Oliver said and Katie turned away. "Don't pretend that you're alright, when—"

"I don't want to argue with you Oliver." Katie interrupted as she turned back to him. "After everything we've been through, the last thing I want to do is argue about something I have no control over. You asked me to marry you—" she looked down to the ring in her hand. "With your mother's ring, as a ploy to capture Slade. I get it. It worked, so kudos, now please take it back." Oliver dropped his head, and Katie simply placed the ring on the bar in front of him. She watched him, just knowing there was something else, something he wasn't saying. "Oliver, I don't care if now isn't the right time, I don't care if there never is a right time." he looked up meeting her eyes, and she saw something she didn't quite understand. It was guilt and for some reason, she just knew. "Say it."

"Katie—"

"Oliver, don't try to distract me with words to make me feel better, just say what it is you have to say." Katie said, and Oliver shook his head, unable to let the words come out of his mouth, but he knew he had to.

"Starling needs protection. From people like Slade and people like Sebastian, and I—" he cleared his throat, before continuing. "I decided that I would be that person, but something happened. I didn't see the darkness they brought to my city until it was too late, and yeah in the end it didn't matter because we beat them." he shook his head as the words that had been building up inside of him, just came bubbling out. "But look at all the shit that happened that should've been prevented. What happened to Roy, and my mother, I should've prevented those things."

"Then why didn't you, Oliver?" Katie asked, knowing what the logic in his brain was telling him, but she needed him to say it. She needed the words to be spoken. So she decided to say them herself. "It was Twinkie. I was too busy playing the boyfriend role in my life, too busy being happy with the woman that I loved to be the messiah to my city. Is that what you're saying?"

Katie stood to her feet and walked away, placing distance between them.

"You're making a choice." Katie said turning back to Oliver. "That battle between Oliver and the Arrow, you're finally picking a side and it's just not side I'm on."

"This is bigger than us." Oliver says standing to his feet and walking over to her, but she simply backed away. "I love you, you know—"

"Don't you dare!" Katie snapped when a tear unexpectantly fell from her eye and she turned away, because she didn't want him to see her cry. He did not get to see her cry and especially not over him. "You know what, you're so...predictable, because I knew this moment was coming. I expected it." she turned back to him. "It was getting deep, and then you threw caution to the wind and asked me to marry you and something happened, just like it always does. You got scared, and this time, like every other time, I don't even know of what." she stalked over to stand in front of him. "So you want to end this Oliver, then fine, but you remember this was it. The last chance you were ever gonna get." she shook her head before turning to leave, and he tried to catch her arm, tried to stop her so he could explain, so she could understand and not walk away hating him. "Twinkie—"

"I'm not your Twinkie anymore!" she called, her words like a knife through the heart as she walked out the door, leaving the man alone.

_Katie was barely conscious, barely able to form words when she was suddenly pushed out of the van, hitting the hard cement. Soon there were people standing above her, military she gathered from their uniforms, all with guns pointed down to her. _

_"My name is Doctor Katherine Robins, I am an American and I need my country’s help." _

_She blacked out after that moment, and didn't wake up until she felt cold steel against her chest. She grabbed the hand of the perpetrator about to attack, when she was suddenly held down by strong arms. _

_"Doctor Robins!" Katie's eyes opened, and she looked up to blue eyes she'd never seen before. "It's alright. You're safe." _

_"Who are you?" Katie asked looking over the dark haired man. _

_"My name is Special Agent Benjamin Lockwood. I'm with the CIA, the embassy called us when you arrived outside the gates." the man said. "Do you remember what happened to you?" _

_Katie remembered every last detail of the last two years of her life down to the day, and yet Martin's words came back to her, telling her that the truth wouldn't get her home. _

_"No." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I don't remember anything." The man simply nodded before glancing over his shoulder. He looked back to Katie before taking the seat beside her bed. _

_"Well, we'll give it a few days. I'm sure your time has been very traumatic. You'll remember something." _

_"It seems like you're hoping I remember something specific." Katie said studying the man who shook his head. "Look I just want to go home and forget about all of this." _

_"Don't worry you will, after you're fully debriefed." _

_"Debriefed?" _

_"Doctor, the extremist groups in this country all have motive, they do everything and anything to get something in return. Your captors gave no demands in all the years you were taken, and then out of the blue you were just returned alive."_

_"Some would call that lucky."_

_"Others would call it suspicious, and until we figure out what happened to you, why you were taken, then you will be placed in our custody." _

_"For how long?" _

_"How ever long it takes doctor." _

"Hey." a voice says, snapping Katie from her thoughts. She turns from looking out the window to Felicity who moves to see what she was staring at. It was the Realtor, hammering the for sale sign in the lawn in front of the house. "You sure you want to go through with this?" Katie turned back her once beautifully furnished house, now everything either moved out or packed in boxes. "I know what happened with you and Oliver—"

"Felicity, don't. You agreed that I would be the one to bring up the topic if I ever wanted to talk, and I'm not ready." she walked off, toward the stairs where Roy was walking down with a box.

"You sure you want to just toss all this stuff in storage?" the man asked and Katie nodded. "Well do you mind if I raid the boxes?"

"Go nuts." Katie laughed before climbing the stairs. She walked down the hall, passing one of the spare bedrooms, where John and Lyla were currently arguing about whether they really needed another lamp. Katie stepped into the room that she'd been putting off packing up, but knew at some point it would have to get done. She opened the door to her parent's room, and took a deep breath before walking inside. She stood there for a few moments, unsure where she should start.

"I would start in the closet. " a voice said from behind her and Katie sighed before turning to see Bruce standing at the door. "The good stuff is always in the closets."

"I told you not to come here." Katie said crossing her arms over her chest. "Felicity's here and—"

"I know, we exchanged greetings. I think we're moving past the "I hate you Bruce" part of our break up and now we're moving toward friends."

"You're delusional." Katie replied with a shake of her head before looking around the room. 

"John told me you still don't have a place lined up." Bruce said and Katie looked over to him. "This is the part where I'm supposed to say that there's always room on my plane back to Gotham, but I'm not."

"Really?" Katie asked genuinely surprised. "What is it that you say now?"

"Do what you want Robins." Bruce said walking over to her. "For the longest time, people have been telling you what to do, telling you who you are or who you're supposed to be, but in the end it doesn't matter what I think, or what Oliver does. In the end, it's your choice." Katie looked at the man with a smile before giving him a nod. "So what do you want to do?"

"Now?" Katie asked and the man gave a nod. "Well now I think I do want to start with the closet." she grabbed the box from the bed and walked over and opened the door to the walk in closet that was still filled with her father's clothes and shoes. She inhaled, still able to smell that familiar smell that attached itself to her father.

"You want some help?" Bruce asked and Katie looked over to him and just shook her head.

"No, I think this is a solo mission." she replied and Bruce simply nodded. "If you're not too busy, me and my worker bees could use food, and since you're loaded—"

"Using me for my money, Robins?" the man tsked with a shake of his head. "I expect more from you."

"No you don't Wayne." she said turning back to the closet.

"You're right, I expect the exact amount of pain in the ass from you, that you truly are." Bruce replied and Katie simply swat his arm before he finally left. Katie stood there a moment longer before finally going inside to pack up all remnants of her father.

Oliver sat on the steps of Verdant that lead to the second floor office. He'd been sitting there for the better part of the day, unsure of what he should be doing. The lair was being rebuilt, and upgraded according to Felicity, so for the time being he would have to wait. The thing about waiting was that it gave too much idle time, and Oliver only spent that idle time thinking of one moment. The moment he thinks he may have made the worse decision of his life. His eyes looked down to the silver engagement ring in his hand, the light shimmering in the light. This was it. The key to the future he’s always wanted with woman. And he threw it away. He tilted the ring a bit, his eyes catching sight of something he hadn’t noticed before. There was an inscription along the band. “ Long, Live, Love.” He read, the words tugging at him. He closed his eyes to unable to do this. He needed to fix this. 

Oliver lifted his head at the sound of the club doors opening and instantly scowled at the person who walked inside.

"Why are you here Bruce?" Oliver asked standing to his feet and walking down the stairs. "Shouldn't you be on a plane back to Gotham."

"Don't worry, Oliver I will be gone soon enough." Bruce replied glancing around the empty club before turning back to the man. "I'm on a food run. I guess moving makes people hungry." Oliver dropped his head, remembering the day John had told him of Katie selling her parents house. 

"She tell you where she's going?" Oliver asks, lifting his head back to the man.

"Would you care if she did?" Bruce asked, and Oliver growled before taking a step toward him, fully intending to just beat his face in. Bruce backed away, holding up his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I seriously have absolutely no room to judge you." the men simply stood there looking at each other.

"Why am I having doubts?" Oliver asked looking to the man who seemed all too content with his decisions with ending things with Felicity. "Why do I want to run to her every damn day and beg her to forgive me?" Oliver shook his head at the thoughts.

"Why haven't you?" Bruce asked and Oliver looked back to him. "It's because they're better off, because we can't give them everything inside of us, because everything inside of us doesn't even belong to us." Bruce turned away, finding the words that always got him through tough days. "They don't get it." he looked back to Oliver. "They don't understand what it takes to put on that mask and be the one person who can stop the bad things the way that only we can." Bruce shook his head. "The stories have it all messed up. The hero doesn't get the girl at the end. He can't because to be a hero, you also have to have a little darkness inside of you. And that can't get to her, that can't—" Bruce cleared his throat, trying to push down the thoughts that drove him insane if he let himself think on them for too long. "It was the right thing to do Oliver, trust me. Look that's not why I'm here."

"Are you here to tell me how Katie got off that plane, when you were supposed to take her to Gotham?" Oliver asked and Bruce let out a deep sigh.

"Actually I am." Bruce said with a shake of his head. "Only because I have no idea what Robins is in the middle of and it scares the hell out of me." Oliver saw the seriousness in them man's eyes and took a step forward.

"Tell me." Oliver demanded.

"Jacob Robins is alive and well Oliver." Bruce said and Oliver stared in shock unsure how to respond to the statement. "And I think he has more plans in store for his daughter."

Lois Lane, star reporter, and so on and so forth, at this very moment was sure she was the biggest idiot in the world. It was just a cryptic email from someone she assumed was her anonymous source, and yet here she was, sitting on a park bench, in the middle of Centennial Park, sitting on a park bench awaiting the face the face she'd been waiting for. Sure Perry told her to drop this story, and forget about Starling, and sure Clark tried tossing other story ideas at her to try to distract her, but she couldn't. It was the General inside of her, telling her to not give up on something she knows is important and so she wouldn't. 

"I'm glad you came Ms. Lane." A voice spoke from behind her. She was about to turn, but was stopped. "I think it's best if we took this slow."

"Ok, how about why you want to meet me here." Lois said before a folder was dropped on the bench beside her. She quickly grabbed it and opened it, the first page putting her in a state of shock. "Sebastian Blood—"

"Was working with Slade Wilson and the cause of the mayhem on the streets of Starling." said the man behind her. "Yes." Lois flipped through the pages of detail adoptions reports, cell phone records, and bank statements. "You are going to do an expose on the former mayor of Starling, and somewhere in there you're going to mention the Queen and the Robins families."

"Why?" Lois asked. "What is their families' connection to what happened to Starling?"

"That's the question that is going to get your boss to send you back Ms. Lane." the man replied.

"You want me to go back to Starling." the woman stated with a shake of her head. "Why? I didn't get any answer about anything. Just puzzle pieces that never fit together."

"It's because you thought you knew what the picture was going to be, and when nothing fit you kept grasping at those same wrong pieces."

"Then what are the right pieces?"

"Jacob Robins." the man replied. "You were so focused on his daughter, and her connection to his disappearance that you couldn't even fathom the idea that she had nothing to do with it. You were looking in the wrong place Ms. Lane."

"Then tell me where to start, what rock should I be turning over."

"You know for a world famous reporter, you sure don't know how to do your job." the man said. "Before you can get to point B Ms. Lane, first you have to—"

"Learn as much about Point A as possible." Lois finished before shaking her head. "Jacob. I need to dig deeper into him." Ideas started forming in the woman's head, when she finally turned to find no one there.

Jacob Robins stood staring at the large satellite video feed of people moving things from his house. He couldn't even say how much it hurt to see his daughter leaving the home he'd tried so hard to build for her.

"It was inevitable Jacob." came a voice from behind him, but he didn't turn, he didn't have to.

"Clark I'm not really in the mood for your judgmental, boy scout of America bullshit." Jacob said.

"What you did, to her—"

"For her!" Jacob snapped turning to the man. "I keep hearing what I did to her, but it was not done to her, it was for her, because if it wasn't my daughter would not be alive today. She wouldn't be the strong woman she is today, so please stop speaking of her as if she is a victim."

"If she's not a victim, then what is she, huh?" Clark asks moving to stand beside the man, and look up to the screen. "What is this?"

"This...this is her finally coming into her own. Finally becoming her own person. She's growing and becoming stronger and independent." Jacob said with a nod. "She's gonna need it all for what's coming."

"You can prevent it all from even touching her." Clark spoke and Jacob turned a glare to him.

"How dare you even claim such a thing? If I could stop what is coming, don't you think I would?" Jacob shook his head, turning back to the screen where he saw his daughter standing, looking out the window. "The fight that's coming is hers, all I have ever done is try to prepare her for it."

"So is she ready?" Clark asked and Jacob stared at the face of his daughter as he thought on the question he asked himself all the time.

"Not yet. Not now. Too much has happened and she's too distracted by emotions, but she's going to get it back." Jacob said with a nod.

"And Oliver?"

Jacob scoffs at the man's name. "Oliver is an idiot."

"And yet—"

"I know, she's going to need him if she ever plans on winning this battle. And he's going to need her if he ever plans on stop being such a retributive jackass and finally be happy." Jacob sighs as he looks to the house he'd built for his family, now being packed away in boxes. "They're going to have to find their way back to each other if they even attempt to beat the demon. He won't be holding any punches, and he's going to use every last one of their weaknesses against them."

Ra's Al Ghul was waiting. He wasn't an impatient man...if man is what you would like to think of him, but that isn't what was in question right now. At the moment, the demon head of some of the most deadliest assassins was just waiting. He stood at his favorite cliff, and looked out to the beautiful waters, when his daughter walked over.

"I assume your trip to Starling was fruitful?" he asked, not tearing his eyes from the waters.

"Yes father." Nyssa said, moving to stand beside him. "Nura was uncharacteristically tame for this fight. I think her return to Starling is making her weak." The statement just seemed to make the demon head chuckle. "What?"

"Jealousy is not a favorable look on you daughter. " the demon says glancing over to his daughter. "Nura has always been exceptional, what you mistook for weakness, is nothing more than fear."

"What is she afraid of?"

"What she's always been afraid of." Ra's replied turning back to the waters. "That darkness inside of her that will never go away." Footsteps neared, and Nyssa was the only one to turn around to the man who joined them. "Which is where Sarab comes in."

"My liege?" Sarab asked in confusion.

"Sarab, you have held many names before taking on your true name." Ra's spoke turning to the man. "One of those names is needed now. I need you to bring me Nura." Sarab simply nodded before turning and walking away.

"Father, how can he bring her back?"

"Because he is one of the demons she carries with her. We know him as Sarab." Ra's says with a slight smirk turning back to the beautiful water. "She knows him as Lian Yu."

For a few moments, Katie simply just looked over the closet, letting her fingers move across her father's suits. Her eyes then lifted to see a box, labeled "Grace". With curiosity, Katie reached up and grabbed the box, before sitting down on the floor and opening it. She smiled at the old pictures of her father and mother, along with little keepsakes. Katie's eyes soon found a few journals. She picked up one and paged through it. One page stopped her, it's words etching themselves into her brain as she read them.

_"I dreamed of him again and just like the others, I woke up wishing that it was only a dream, but it never is. My dreams will always be reminders of the horrible things of my past. The horrible things forced upon me because of who my family is. It will always be the curse that haunts me for being born with the last name Al Gul." _

Katie dropped the journal in shock, trying her hardest to make sense of words that couldn't be any clearer.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s note: Should I continue?


End file.
